The Lion's Roar

At the end of the Book of Genesis is the story of Joseph—sometimes called the “Joseph Novella.” This story was made incredibly popular by the Broadway musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In this course, we’re going to explore the story itself—which is rich with meaning and insight. And then we’re going to look at the story as a transition piece between the time of the patriarchs to the Exodus. We’re going to examine how it fascinatingly relates to other stories from the Ancient Near East that you’ve never heard of before. We’re going to look how the story reflects some of the fascinating politics of the Israelites who wrote this story down centuries and centuries after the events it describes took place. And we’re going to look at how the story of St Joseph—Mary’s husband and Jesus’ adopted father—is prefigured by the story of Joseph the patriarch. You’ll come away from this course knowing the story well, knowing a lot more about the culture, economics, and politics of the Biblical world, and knowing how the story of Christmas is enriched by our understanding of some of the more obscure corners of the Old Testament.

The first Sunday of advent is November 27.  To help celebrate the Advent Season this year we encourage and invite all parishioners, families large and small, on-line or in person, to make your own Advent Wreath.  To make sure we get everyone involved we will have an Advent Wreath Contest.  Anyone can enter. The rules are simple. 

The RULES

1.      The advent wreath must have 4 candles that can light up (candle or electric or digital)

2.      The design should reflect the Advent Season

3.      The winning design must be appropriate for display in the Church service

4.      The Wreath cannot be a fire hazard

5.      Creativity is encouraged

6.      There will be 4 winning wreaths to use each Sunday in the church during advent

7.      Our youth group will select the 4 winning wreaths

8.      Entries must be constructed and photos submitted by Thursday November 24

9.      Only one entry per family, group, or single individual

10.   The winning wreath will be either lit in the church or you can keep it at home and submit a video of you and your family lighting the wreath for the Sunday service.

We are looking for a few new members of the Buildings and Grounds team.  We are charged with keeping our St. Marks buildings and Grounds in tip-top shape.  If you like to tinker with home repair or gardening or if you would like to learn more about how to do home repair and grounds work projects, we welcome you all.  Please join us at the next Buildings and Grounds Commission Meeting which will be Tuesday, November 8 at 7:30 pm in the church hall. This will be our last meeting of the year where we plan and prioritize the larger projects we would like to accomplish for 2023. 

Featured Buildings need for November - Lightly stain and polyurethane two sections of the Link.  We had the two lower skylights replaced in July in the Link and need someone to stain and polyurethane the underside.  If you like to paint and are not afraid of using a tall step ladder then YOU are our handyperson.  Just send a note to John Lyga or come to the Buildings and Grounds meeting on November 8. It would be nice to have this done by Advent.