Saint Mark's Lutheran Church
454 Fieldstone Road
Mooresville, NC 28115
704-664-5474
Email:
Pastor Cozart -
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Ashley Fisher -
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Carol Feiste -
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Admin -
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The day is done! Yesterday we had a fantastic first day on the work site. We had over 25 people and everyone brought their servant's spirit with them. We got a great start building the Wilke Family Home. As you can see from the pictures in our photo album , we put up 3 exterior walls on the main part of the house and we put up 1 exterior wall on the butt-out on the side of the house.
Additionally, we built 1 more of the exterior walls for the butt-out and all of the interior walls for the complete house. These walls we left lying on the slab for the next work crew to raise and install. All in all, a great start. You can join in by signing up at our Volunteer Sign-up page. You WILL NOT regret it. We have a great team and they are a joy to work with!
Hopefully, the weather on the next work day will be as nice as it was yesterday. We started the day with all of our layers on but, by the early afternoon, we could work in short sleeves...on Jan, 24th! The Weisenmayer's brought out a great lunch spread which we combined with food from some other churches on adjacent sites. So, the food and fellowship was 100% Blessed by God. Thanks to all!
Again, I hope you'll join in the fun! There are plenty of ways you can help with plenty of opportunities to serve the Lord.
What I've included below is Belinda's email to our Day 1 Work Team...you learn a lot from this contact. Of course, some of the details will change for the following work days. First, you learn that "The Day Is Here". Alleluia! And, you learn that we start EARLY. Oh, well. Lunch is provided, bring a water bottle, directions (from the church anyway) and so forth. You also get contact info for Belinda who is our Volunteer Coordinator. As for more about our first day, see the next blog entry...
Greetings to Habitat Crew for this Sat., Jan. 24,
Our first day on site of OUR Habitat House is here! The day will begin bright and early on Sat. at 7:45 am.
Please read the following email carefully.
**Our day will run until at least 2 pm. or until we finish our job of exterior framing.
**Lunch will be served at approximately 12 noon by the Weisenmayer family.
**Bring safety glasses if you have them.
**Bring a water bottle. Habitat is now providing large jugs of water for us to use and asks that each worker bring a personal water bottle that can be filled and refilled from the jugs.
Directions to the site: (The home site is not far from the church but does involve several turns.)
These directions are written as if you were traveling from St. Mark's to the site. Please adjust to your needs and don't hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions.
From St. Mark's driveway turn right onto Fieldstone Road. Turn left onto Edgemoor. Turn right onto Magnolia. At the stoplight in front of the Jr. High turn left onto Cabarrus. Go 3 blocks to Sycamore on the right. Turn onto Sycamore and One block down is Sharpe Street on the left. Turn left and the home site is a short distance down on the left. The address is
419 Sharpe Street.
Look forward to seeing you all. Please call anytime if I am needed. 704-664-0325 Belinda Cozart
The Time is Near!
Happy New Year! My prayer for the New Year is that your home will be blessed…
I know that the Wilke family will feel blessed if YOU will lay hands on their home. In 3 short weeks, we’ll begin the St Mark’s Habitat House. The Build will run from January 24 th to April 18 th and it is time to start signing up for the workdays. Remember this is the largest Social Ministry project in the 100 years of St Mark’s. This gift to our community is a wonderful way to honor those saints who built this church 100 years ago. We’ve been very faithful to the spirit of this gift throughout the 2008 fundraising part of this project. Our St Mark’s home will be 1 of 10 new, family-owned Habitat Homes to help resurrect the neighborhood along Sharpe St. in Mooresville. This effort is in keeping with the positive impact this church has had on our community for 100 years.
Now that we’re beginning the Build itself, we need another faithful response from our church. We already have one of the best Habitat Teams and we’re asking them to really step up. They’ll be a solid foundation for this project. But, we will need help. You can sign up to work with our regular team or you can sign up your own small group but the key here is sign up…to sign up early and to sign up often. Everyone over the age of 16, whether you are or are not experienced, is welcome on the worksite. Habitat will provide the tools, the materials and the training.
This Build is a big undertaking to put on a few people. But, if you think about it, 14 weeks flies by. This house will be done before you know it so don’t put off your involvement. This is going to be an awesome experience and you don’t want it to get away.
I want to tell you about the ways you can sign up and the ways you can follow our progress. First, we have sign-up sheets available in the Narthex. We have a sheet for each workday and it would be a huge help for you to sign up just as soon as you know you can help on that particular date. We need to know what dates are covered and for what dates we need to recruit. Also, we have 2 additional sign-up sheets. These are for a Weekday Pool and a Weekend Pool. If you feel that you can’t commit to a particular date in advance but you want to be involved at some point, put your name and contact info on these sheets. We’ll use the pool to recruit for those dates that are short of volunteers. If you do sign up in advance for a couple of dates, you might still want to add your name to the pool as well. Perhaps you’ll be able to help on some other date as needed.
These same sign-up sheets are available online. If you go to our home page at saintmarkslutheran.com , you’ll find a section on the right of the page about Habitat. This section includes a link to the Volunteer Sign-up page where you can sign up for any workday or for the pools.
You can also follow our progress online by using the link on the home page to the Habitat Blog. As we get into the Build, you’ll find articles and pictures of our progress.
As you’ve heard me say before, the Spirit really is present on a Habitat Build. Don’t take my word for it. Ask someone else who has worked with Habitat. I’m confident they’ll tell you the same thing. Our St Mark’s Habitat House really will be God’s Love in Action. Please, sign up…
Build Schedule - Wilke Family
Date
Day
Task
# Volunteers needed
1/24/09
Saturday
Frame exterior walls
12-15
1/31/09
Saturday
Frame interior walls Prep trusses
12-15
2/04/09
Weekdays
Trusses
Weekday Crew
2/07/09
Saturday
Sheath roof and felt Attic Deck, deadwood
12 - 15
2/14/09
Saturday
Doors & Windows
8 - 10
2/21/09
Saturday
Misc. Framing/Advanced Energy
8-10
2/28/09
Saturday
Vinyl Siding
12-15
3/07/09
Saturday Off
Trades In
3/14/09
Saturday
Paint Walls
12 - 15
3/21/09
Saturday
Interior Trim
10-12
3/28/09
Saturday
Paint Trim
10 - 12
4/04/09
Saturday
Misc. Interior Hardware
8 - 10
4/11/09
Saturday Off
Easter Holiday
Off
4/18/09
Saturday
Punch/Cleaning
8 - 10
TBD
Saturday
Landscape
15
Also, occasionally, we may need 6-8 weekday volunteers to help catch up/keep on schedule so that the weekend crew is ready to do their assigned task. This group is not a regular requirement but will surely be needed a few times during the course of our build.
You can sign up for any one of these Workdays at the following link:
Volunteer Sign-Up
Volunteer Sign-up
I hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving! My next entry will do as I said in my last entry which is to give you more info about our Build Schedule and the effort it will require.
But, I wanted to go ahead and get the following link online. This link will take you to a page for signing up for the various workdays on the Build which starts on Saturday, January 24, 2009 and ends in the middle of April. I hope to have the same link on the St. Mark's Home page very soon. More to follow about all of this...
Volunteer Sign-Up
Catch Up Time
Well, we're getting back in to the swing of things so I want to bring everyone interested up-to-date with what's been going on...For several reasons, our fundraising effort has been on hold since our 2 big summer events, the golf tournament and Dearly Departed dinner theater. So, I've been concentrating on other things (mostly a new job). Now, we have a Build Schedule in hand. We're gearing up for the Hammer part of the project. And, we've got the latest numbers on the fundraising part of the project. As we wind down on the end of the year, as we get very close to our church's 100th Birthday, as we rapidly approach the Build, we have raised close to $35,000.
By all accounts, both events (held on the same weekend in June) were big successes. We had awesome feedback on the events and we raised about $6,000 for the Habitat Build! You can check out some pictures of the Golf Tournament on the Photo Gallery. As for the dinner theater, I need to track down some pictures of that night. I was too busy to even think and never took the first picture. But, I did slow down long enough to enjoy both the food and the play. Fantastic! Thank the Lord for everyone who helped make these events such a great time and a huge success.
And, we've had a couple of workdays on Habitat Builds since the summertime. You can check out pictures of those days on the Photo Gallery as well. I'd say we had at least 20 volunteeers each day and we got a lot of good work done. Great experience for our own Build.
As I mentioned earlier, we now have a Build Schedule for our own St. Mark's Habitat House! My next entry will go in to more detail about what's coming up.
Workday on Saturday, May 17th
Well, you've heard me say it before...the Habitat folks love to see the St. Mark's team show up. We had a good sized group of about 20 and a beautiful day for working out in God's Glorious Creation. We were on a site in Cornelius that is part of their Poole Place development.
One thing that was a bit different was that we didn't have any help from the AmeriCorps volunteers. We usually have from 1 to 4 of these young adults helping out. And, they are a lot of help. They are hard-working, experienced, committed folks. And, young! That's strong and flexible, etc. Wouldn't it be nice? Anyway, they were all in Mississippi helping out with the annual Jimmy Carter Build for Habitat for Humanity. Wouldn't it be nice?
Another neat thing was that we had 4 HIPs (Homeowners in Progress) on site including our own Jeff Wilke. And, all four of this group really showed their involvement as they plugged right in to our group.
So, we showed up to a site needing some siding. We received our "How to" talk and split up into 4 teams, one for each exterior wall. We had 1 Habitat supervisor with each team. We had 2 cutting stations. And, we got to work. By lunch time, we were done. There was still a little bit of gable work to do and some of the soffitting. But, most of the house was covered. We were at a stopping point so the Habitat folks called it a day. We had team members that would have finished the rest but the Habitat folks said they wanted to have something for the weekday volunteers to do.
Well, I say, that's a good half-day's work. See some pix at Workday Pix . God Bless Habitat and we're thinking about all those at the Jimmy Carter Build.
Golf 4 Habitat
Get your team together and hit the practice tee...We’ll host a golf tournament on Friday, June 27th with all proceeds benefiting Our Towns Habitat for Humanity. We’ll play at Mooresville Municipal Golf Course in a Captain’s Choice format.
Check-in will begin at 10:30 with a Shotgun Start at 12:00. We’ll provide a bag lunch and dinner will follow the round. We’ll have door prizes. We’ll award trophies for the first three flights, the longest drive on #6 and closest to the pin on #5 and #12. You can benefit the cause by purchasing mulligans at $5 per mulligan. Also, hole sponsorships are available for $100 to help the Habitat effort. Hole Sponsors will receive a big THANKS sign at a designated tee box.
Participation is $60 per player and you can get a registration form here . Please, RSVP by June 13th. Also, if you have any further questions, contact golf4habitat@gmail.com . Come out and have a Great Time for a Great Cause!
See the following for Dinner Theatre Tickets:
Name
Phone Number
email address
Church Office
704.664.5474
carolfeiste@aol.com
Robert Rhyne
704.664.7906
arrhyno@alltel.net
Marsha Rhyne
704.664.7906
mrhyne@alltel.net
Jeff Cole
704.799.0182
jeffsc111@aol.com
Susan Cole
704.799.0182
babyrhyne@aol.com
Chris Isetts
704.662.0304
Chris.Isetts@draka.com
Susan Bostian
704.664.4910
sjbostian1@windstream.net
Tammy Parker
704.664.2802
woodyparker@roadrunner.com
Belinda Cozart
704.855.3334
belindacozart@ctc.net
Jim Woods
704.660.3556
jwoods17201@yahoo.com
Dearly Departed Dinner Theatre
On Saturday, June 28th at 6:30 pm, we will host a fantastic benefit event in the Family Life Center with all proceeds going to Our Towns Habitat for Humanity! The event will start with a dinner featuring a choice of chicken alfredo or pasta with meatballs and red sauce. Lorri Monterose will head up the menu so these will not be ordinary versions! They will surely be extraordinary as anyone who attended the statewide NC Lutheran Men in Mission banquet, which we hosted, can attest.
Then, we will be treated to what has been described as “the drop-dead funny” Dearly Departed . The cast is graciously donating their time and talent to this benefit for Habitat. They completed a very successful two-week run at the Old Courthouse Theatre in Concord this spring. We are very privileged to have them reprise their roles for this event. Bless them! And, thanks to our own Vicki Etz, who will play a leading role, for her help in bringing this production to our project.
Tickets will be $25. There will be a limited number of tickets sold so get yours early! A number of volunteers will be selling tickets. See any of the people listed at the Ticket Sales link about tickets. Also, baby-sitting will be provided. Please, let us know in advance if you will use this service so that we can be adequately staffed.
Please, join us for the fun. And, invite your friends to come, too. We’re going to have a really good time!
Benefit Dance and Pictures
Our Benefit Dance went off just as we imagined except...we had hoped for more people there to enjoy it with us! Everyone there had a really good time. The decorations were perfect. The refreshments were just right. The music was great (Thanks, Jim!). And, the Habitat Harmonizers were REALLY outstanding (Thanks to you guys as well!). I hope to see them together again somewhere soon!
Still, it was all good as all the proceeds went to benefit Our Towns Habitat for Humanity. We're in the race for the long run and the dance was a step along the way. The Good Lord will magnify what we do in his name!
You can check out pictures from this event at the following link:
Dance Pix
Habitat Harmonizers to Perform
We are glad to have some outstanding entertainers provide a highlight to our benefit dance. The group is performing as The Habitat Harmonizers and is composed of Barbershop Quartet singers from three different and highly-ranked, existing North Carolina quartets.
All four performers live in the Lake Norman area and have previously worked on projects with Habitat For Humanity. Alan Kousen, Tenor, is from Cornelius. From Mooresville are Wally Miles, Lead; Steve Shoaf, Baritone and John Earnhardt, Jr.,Bass (St. Mark's Church). The Habitat Harmonizers formed for the purpose of supporting and enriching Habitat For Humanity efforts. April 19th at the St. Mark's Habitat Benefit Dance will be their first public performance. However, they are already getting inquiries from other Habitat and church groups.
Current song list includes:
"I've Been Working on a Habitat Home". This is a parody to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad".
"Building a Habitat Home". This is a parody to the tune of "When There's Love and Home".
"Handyman Medley". This is a parody using several familiar tunes.
"Irish Blessing". This traditional song is also known by the titles of "May The Road Rise" and "A Parting Blessing".
It will be a blessing to our celebration to include their performance. You are invited! For more info, visit www.saintmarkslutheran.com/benefit .
Benefit Page
We have a new webpage that will be used to promote benefit events that we are hosting. Right now, the page is under construction but it does give information about the upcoming dance.
You can check this new site to get late-breaking information about events and to learn about new events as we schedule them. The site is www.saintmarkslutheran.com/benefit .
Benefit Dance
Mark your calendars! On Saturday, April 19 th at 7:00 pm, we will host a benefit dance in the Family Life Center. The theme for this dance is the Habitat worksite so “Habitat worksite” casual is completely appropriate. How comfortable and laidback can you get? But, don’t forget that this is important stuff. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to our project and Our Towns Habitat for Humanity. So, plan to be there and plan to invite all your friends. We’re going to have a great time!
This event is for ages 15 and up. This range of ages is the range that will be eligible to participate in a Habitat Build that starts in 2009. So, it’s time to get everyone involved in the work and in the fun. We’ll have to have a wide range of music to please this wide range of ages and tastes. In perfect synergy, the music will be provided by DJ Jim Wilke, the brother of Jeff Wilke. We’re talking about beach and boogie, soul and great rock n roll, country and swing. If you have a specific song request, just send me an email at arrhyno@alltel.net .
Tickets will be $10 in advance and $12 at the door. There will be a limited number of tickets sold so get yours early! You can get them in the office. You can ask anyone on our Habitat Team. Watch for sales in the Narthex and FLC foyer. And, you can call the office at 704-664-5474 ext 203 and reserve them for pickup on the 19 th at the “Will Call” desk.
Hors doeurves and soft drinks will be provided. Also, check back here for late-breaking information. We hope to have announcements about babysitting and additional entertainment.
Please join us for the fun. And, invite your friends to come, too. We’re gonna have a real good time!
Matching Funds
We’ve had some questions about matching funds from employers so let me address some issues to answer questions and avoid problems. Many employers will match your gift to a qualifying organization so, please, check with your employer to see what might be available. Matching funds are a great way to magnify your gift!
Our Towns Habitat for Humanity is a fully-qualified, 501 (c) (3), non-profit organization. This status will generally satisfy whatever requirements your employer may have for matching your gift. As for specific procedures, these steps usually arise from the employer’s requirements. Just check with your employer for their needs.
Be sure to make it clear with your gift and with any other forms or correspondence that you intend for your gift to benefit the St. Mark’s Lutheran Habitat House. It makes no difference to OTHFH if the funds go into their General Fund or the St. Mark’s Fund. All of these dollars go for building. However, if they don’t know any better, the funds will go into the General Fund.
Additionally, the employer’s matching donation could come at a different time and/or from a different location. So, it is important to designate our project on the check and on any paperwork. Ideally, let me know about a gift (even if you want to keep the amount private) and I will follow up with OTHFH to see that they receive it and that it is allocated correctly.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Remember that this project happens one dollar at a time!
As future Habitat Homeowners, Jeff and Patty Wilke are hard at work building up sweat equity. They have to put in 200 hours on other homes prior to the start of their build. However, they can take up to 2 other volunteers with them when they go to a worksite. These man-hours will count towards their own sweat equity.
We have given Jeff a list of names and email addresses of people willing to help with this effort. This list gives him a pool of people that he can email as a group and, possibly, at the last minute (say, night before a workday). In general, he will probably be able to give more advanced notice. If you are willing to be on this list, then let him know at wilkejk529@aol.com .
Anyone that can help on a given workday can respond to his email request. Then, he can get back to you with details. If you can't help, then no harm done. Thanks for everyone willing to help with this effort.
This article is from the March, 2008 print newsletter, The Marker.
News from the Habitat Home Front
Do you realize that sponsoring a Habitat House is the largest social ministry that St. Mark’s has ever undertaken? By far! You could say, it’s of historic proportions which is both accurate and appropriate for our 100 th Anniversary. But, consider the legacy we’ve been given by the saints who went before us. Think about starting this church. Even 100 years ago, that was a huge leap of faith. Our project seems more manageable, doesn’t it? This Habitat gift, freely given to our community in the same Spirit that guided our predecessors, does honor to that legacy. The Spirit of Habitat for Humanity says “here I am”.
Our project would take a giant step along its path if everyone joined together to accept the challenge that is already on the table…to tithe from the Tax Rebates that will come this spring (those checks that are part of the Economic Stimulus Package). With this challenge, the perception of everyone joined together is important. So, if you’ve prayerfully decided to accept the challenge, please fill out one of the “Chain Link” pledge cards. They can be found in the Narthex, the office entry and the alcove of the Family Life Center. If you prefer to fill it out as “Anonymous”, that’s fine. Still, please indicate the number in your family so that we can estimate the success of this challenge (for example, “Anonymous family of 4”). You can tack the pledge card to the bulletin board in the Family Life Center, put it in the offering plate or leave it by the Progress Posters for us to post. Let’s ALL join together to meet this challenge!
Also, Neil Jackson, our Fund Raising Coordinator, and I have begun to approach various small groups in the church to take on a fund raising event to support our overall effort. We ask each small group, formal and informal, those we have approached and those we have not, to accept this challenge, as well. Feel free to talk to us before we talk to you with your questions and ideas.
Finally, I encourage everyone to visit the Habitat Blog and the Habitat House Photo album that you can reach on the church website. It’s a good way to keep up-to-date, to find information, to be a part of what’s going on. Pass it on to your friends and family!
Workday of Saturday, February 23rd
You could learn a lot about a Habitat build from our workday today. Let me set the scene first. We gradually gathered at Meridian St. in Cornelius for our 7:30 start time. It was foggy with the sort of damp air and cool morning that will sink into your bones. With just a bit of activity, the temperature was good for hard work. By mid-morning, the weather was beautiful. About 8:00, we were getting the lowdown on hanging drywall. While the ceilings had already been hung, none of the walls had been done. That was our job!
We had a good crowd of about 20-25 including some new faces on our team. We split up into 3 teams and got to it. Each team easily settled into a room and a routine and managed to stay out of each other's way. When we broke for lunch, most of the big stuff was done. By early afternoon, a few people were wrapping up the last small trim pieces. Others were pretty well done cleaning up the worksite.
What could you learn from this workday? First, everyone worked SAFELY with no major injuries. This worksite definitely had the Right Spirit, too. Also, I've said at some point in this blog that Our Towns Habitat likes to see our St. Mark's team show up. I think I can still safely say that as we got a lot done and got it done well. It's all about teamwork. Our larger team easily divided into smaller teams which really worked well together.
Also, on these builds, you will always work with some future homeowners but not necessarily the one for the home you are working on that day. On this build, we enjoyed working with our homeowner, Joevelyn, who was very sweet, full of spirit and mighty thankful. She'll be in her house soon!
I'll get some more pictures uploaded to the photo album soon so come back to see what's new. It was a challenging photo environment. Lots of dust in the air. Some of the pix are with a camera phone (no flash) with no room lights and bright sunlight coming in the windows. So, you take what you get. Anyway, I hope to see you at the next workday!
Robert
Workday Photos
U Every gift of every size and type is vitally important to this ministry. Every Habitat House is built one dollar at a time and one nail at a time. Your time, your talents and your treasure can help make this gift to our community become a reality. Come back to the blog to keep up-to-date with ways to spend your time and use your talents.
U We also have a variety of ways to make a charitable gift to the project. There is a separate blog entry about donating online. Other ways of giving are detailed below. Your gifts will be magnified!
U You can give directly to the church in all the usual ways. Just be sure to designate the gift for Habitat if that is your intention.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
454 Fieldstone Road
Mooresville, NC 28115
U Our Towns Habitat for Humanity chapter can accept donations in a variety of other ways, as well. These include donations of vehicles or stocks, automatic bank drafts and recurring credit card charges. If one of these methods appeals to you, then contact me (Robert Rhyne at arrhyno@alltel.net ) so that we can help you make the proper contact while insuring that your donation goes to the intended chapter and project.
U Habitat for Humanity is one of the great organizations to be involved with and worthy of our support in every way. Your gift to our specific project is just like supporting any Habitat Build. On the one hand, it is fully tax deductible. On the other hand, it will go completely towards our Habitat House. One difference is that you can keep coming back to our blog and photo album to stay connected!
This article appeared in our February, 2008 print newsletter, The Marker. The article reflects our hope to build the Wilke's home and to set the goal of full sponsorship.
News from the Habitat Home Front
Just this past Tuesday evening, we held the organizational meeting for our Habitat Steering Committee. The meeting was well attended and the committee showed right off the bat that they are full of faith by selecting me to be the chairman. They showed no hesitation so, likewise, I'll show no hesitation in calling on their help and support. I sense that everyone is excited to be a part of this project. Anyone that has ever worked with Habitat will understand that spirit and I invite each of you to join in and catch the spirit.
The meeting began with a short presentation by Christine Boone, Director of Resource Development with Our Towns Habitat for Humanity, and proceeded with our questions for her. A couple of goals became clear from the start.
Now that Jeff and Patty Wilkie have been approved to enter the Habitat Homeowners' process, we hope that our Habitat House will become their home. Christine indicated that, if timing and processing continue apace, that would be a wonderful thing. We have our own fundraising process to complete. The Wilkie's have an extensive process of classes and sweat equity to complete. God's Will be done. We hope and pray that our goal to build their home will be blessed.
Also, we felt the Call to set our goal high. A Full Sponsorship is $60,500. Additionally, Our Towns Habitat tithes on each of their houses to Habitat International and we hope and pray to make that tithe as well. So, our goal is $66,550. With that amount of money, we would fulfill such an awesome Calling.
First, we would Build, Serve and Grow Our Community. As we celebrate our 100 th Anniversary at St. Mark's, let's shine a light on what those saints before us have done...for us and for our community. They took a Leap of Faith to start a congregation, a community of believers. They built a church. They served and grew this community. They built another church and, then, a Family Life Center. They continued to serve and grow this community. We will truly honor their faithfulness by this gift freely given to our community.
Also, Habitat reaches far beyond our community. Habitat International is currently focused on Guatemala, a country with staggering housing needs. With that tithe, that additional $6,050, Habitat International will build 3 houses in Guatemala. You can even join a team to go do this work. We, too, are called to reach beyond our community. What an awesome way to meet that Call! What a Wonderful Way to fulfill the Leap of Faith that our forebearers' made. Let's take our own Leap of Faith!
In the near future, you will hear of ways to get involved and ways to contribute. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. If you are itching to get involved, get in touch with me. If you can't wait to contribute, great...fundraising is already underway with over $7,500 collected. We still have a long way to go. Contributions can be made in a variety of ways as the Sunday Bulletin indicates. Please prayerfully consider what you can do for our Habitat House. So, catch the Habitat Spirit. This is one project we can ALL do TOGETHER!
Robert Rhyne, 704.664.7906, arrhyno@alltel.net
The following article is from our January, 2008 print newsletter, The Marker. This article was, in effect, the annoucement by our Habitat team to the congregation of our hope to sponsor a Habitat House. The article also reflects on giving, our predecessors at St. Mark's, and Habitat for Humanity.
St. Mark's Lutheran Habitat House
U Throughout this season of giving, we've had many opportunities to reflect on the great lessons about giving that we've learned over the years. These lessons we deem so important that we do our best to pass them on to our children. All of these lessons are embodied in Habitat for Humanity and our local Our Towns HTH chapter.
o It is better to give than to receive teaches us about the joy of giving. Everyone who has worked on a Habitat Build will tell you that, when they give the free gift of their time and effort, they get so much joy in return. There is the joy of teamwork and fellowship with a right spirit. There is the joy of learning something new and of seeing yourself and others grow in unexpected directions. There is joy in doing good, honest, hard work and seeing that work, combined with the work of your brothers and sisters in Christ, magnified into something great. Of course, there is the joy of serving as the Spirit guides us.
o Another lesson is that a gift freely given is untainted by expecting something in return. No one expects a donation to Habitat to reap a reward. No one on a Habitat Build expects the team to show up the next weekend to work on their own home. But, I want to be clear that we get so much in return. Habitat builds stronger families. Habitat builds stable and safe neighborhoods. Habitat builds a better community. Habitat builds the Kingdom of God.
o Another great lesson is the story of the Widow's Mite. Habitat is one of the largest home builders in the world and they do everything one dollar at a time and one nail at a time. They truly value every little gift of time, effort and treasure. You get a real sense of that on their worksite. Yet, they also emphasize that a job well done glorifies God's work. They do not cut one corner anywhere. They understand that everything good happens in due time.
o From the story of the Widow's Mite, we understand that God can magnify the smallest gift into something miraculous. Habitat has complete faith that God will magnify each gift they receive into something much greater than we can imagine. They know that they build much more than houses. This is one of the greatest lessons that will bless us as we tackle this project together.
U Our Towns Habitat chapter really likes to see the St. Mark's team show up at a site. They know they'll get good work done with a right spirit and that we get a lot accomplished. They have full faith in what we can accomplish. Our Habitat team has felt the Spirit asking us to step up. We feel that He's calling us to sponsor a Habitat House in 2008. So, I pray that each of you will pray for the success of this goal.
U Another season of celebration has just started for St. Mark's and will continue throughout 2008 - the celebration of our 100 th year. We were blessed with a miraculous gift in this church. Our Habitat team feels like there is no better way to honor those who have gone before us than with a gift freely given to the community they helped build. We have full faith that this effort will be a blessing for our community and for our community in Christ here at St. Mark's.
U Our next step will be to put together a steering committee that will get to work right away. I'm asking that you pray about getting involved with that work. My New Year's prayer is that everyone will get involved in some way with our St. Mark's Habitat House.
U This project will truly be a bipartisan effort. There will be something you can do whether you are old or young; handy or all thumbs; a Republican or a Democrat; Tar Heel or, even, a Wolfpacker. You can be a Builder...you can be a Giver...or, if you truly embrace bipartisanship, we'll gladly let you be a Builder and a Giver!
U How will you help Build, Serve and Grow Our Community? We have a place at the table just for you. Contact Robert Rhyne, Marsha Rhyne or Belinda Cozart with any thoughts or questions you may have.
U The following workdays are on the calendar for 2008. Keep in mind that we are still in the Fundraising stage of our sponsored Habitat House which is projected to reach the Building stage in January, 2009. So, these workdays will be on sites assigned by Our Towns HFH. Their needs are vital and on-going so please help when you can.
U Also, keep in mind that, prior to our Build, we need to increase the pool of on-site volunteers and to improve our experience level. These 2008 workdays are when we make that happen. So, please make these dates a priority.
U February 23, 2008
U May 17, 2008
U June 7, 2008
U November 15, 2008
U Contact Belinda Cozart, Volunteer Coordinator, at belindacozart@ctc.net for more information.
U You can donate online to our project as follows:
U Go to http://www.ourtownshabitat.org and click on the Donate Now link.
U Choose a link for credit card or virtual check.
U Complete the online form.
U Be sure to designate our project. Near the bottom of the form is a field where you indicate "I would like my gift to be used for St Mark’s Lutheran house".
U Habitat for Humanity is one of the great organizations to be involved with and worthy of our support in every way. Your gift to our specific project is just like supporting any Habitat Build. On the one hand, it is fully tax deductible. On the other hand, it will go completely towards our Habitat House. One difference is that you can keep coming back to our blog and photo album to stay connected!
If you have paid any attention to what's been going on in Washington, then you may have seen that the House and the Senate were reconciled over an Economic Stimulus package. Most Americans will receive a "rebate" of $600 per adult and $300 per dependent child. And, many of you may have already thought of several ways to use the money (due about May) to "stimulate" the economy!
Well, on Sunday the 10th, a Challenge was issued...to, at least, tithe from the Tax Rebate to benefit our Habitat House project. That would be a minimum of $60 per adult and $30 per child which shouldn't put too big a dent in anyone's plans for the stimulus. This rebate is money that will be "outside" of everyone's budget so, hopefully, everyone will feel that they can accept this Challenge. Of course, if you feel moved to exceed the Challenge, then praise the Lord. Strong support of this Challenge would move us well down the path towards our Sponsorship Goal.
The Challenge has a theme..."Let's Join Together". There are cards in the Narthex, near the office and in the Alcove of the Family Life Center with a picture of a Link of Chain and a pledge to tithe from the rebate. If you accept the Challenge, please fill out a card and post it on the bulletin board. We want everyone to feel a part of this effort and we want to have some way to, minimally, estimate the pledges so that we can update our "Goal" posters. Thanks and, please, prayerfully consider how you might Meet the Challenge...Let's Join Together!
This link will take you to our photo album...
http://saintmarkslutheran.com/gallery/habitat
Just click on a thumbnail to view enlargements or nested albums. Use "slideshow" link near the top of the gallery, if you prefer.
Robert Rhyne, Project Leader - arrhyno@alltel.net
Belinda Cozart, Volunteer Coordinator and Family Liason - belindacozart@ctc.net
Neil Jackson, Fundraising Coordinator - lknlending@aol.com
Dan English, House Leader - woodkim2001@aol.com
Kevin Bailey and Jim Woods, Asst House Leaders
Guy Roth, Publicity Coordinator - rothgpas@windstream.net
Sandra English, Amenities Coordinator - woodkim2001@aol.com
Build, Serve and Grow
Our Community
We, the people of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Mooresville, NC, have taken a Leap of Faith. To celebrate our 100 th Anniversary, we have committed to the goal of sponsoring and building a Habitat House. This build will be in partnership with our local chapter, Our Towns Habitat for Humanity.
This blog will support that effort in a variety of ways. First, we want anyone that gets involved to feel a sense of belonging and ownership. Every effort in time, talent and treasure is equally important to this project. Also, we want everyone to be aware of what’s going on, when and where. We want YOU to be involved every step of the way whether it’s in a virtual way (through the blog and photo album) or in a real way (if you read about an event or workday that you can actually attend).
Finally, the blog will pass along contact info, calendar info, needs, blessings, accomplishments, upcoming events and whatever else will help make this a group effort. Some of this information may, eventually, be passed along by webpage, but the blog will remain a central effort in spirit.
If you have worked with Habitat for Humanity before, you know what I mean about the spirit. If you haven’t, then please get involved with Habitat in some way so that you can learn what we've learned. You get so much out of working with Habitat. The spirit is magnified!
We invite you to get involved with our particular Habitat project. We hope that you will come back here to remain connected, in spirit, from start to finish. And, let us hear from you with thoughts and prayers.
Robert Rhyne, Project Leader, arrhyno@alltel.net
Habitat Blog 
