Peace to St. Mark

Grace and peace to you, brothers and sisters of St. Mark, from your sister congregation in Christ, Peace Lutheran Church.

We are thankful for the opportunity to participate in this exchange of letters between the three area ELCA congregations. We are thankful for the affirmation of our unity in Jesus Christ, and for the words of encouragement we can offer to one another as we faithfully journey along the paths of ministry that God has laid for us to follow. And, it is our joy to frequently see you along our journey—and to know that it is for God’s purpose that we journey together.

(We give thanks to God for the faithful people of this congregation, St Mark Church, who have gathered in times past to pray and worship, teach and learn, serve and share their gifts. We give thanks to God for the speaking and hearing of the Word in your midst. We give thanks for the people who show us the face of Christ, and for all the ways God has revealed and continues to reveal Himself to and through this congregation.)

Although our congregations have been involved in joint ministry over the years, we see this present time as a kairos moment, the Holy Spirit working to bring us together in God’s mission. And we are thankful for Pastor Bill Stewart’s role in our renewing relationships. (May we never fall into the thinking that we are in competition with each other but rather that we are in cooperation with each other in God’s mission, as God designs the Body of Christ to be interdependent, needing all of its gifts and members to function at its best.)

Fifty-four years ago, St Mark Lutheran Church was officially organized as a congregation of the Lutheran Church in America. From the very beginning you have been committed to ministry with college students, and have supported this ministry through the Lutheran Student Movement. Likewise from the beginning you have been a congregation that nurtures, develops and encourages leaders for the greater Lutheran church at the national and synod levels; in years past St Mark had even had 20-plus members in attendance at every Synod event.

You have also been known for your strong commitment to serve your community, through the preschool, serving dinners for the homeless through the Salvation Army, resettling refugees, supporting Habitat for Humanity and the foodbank, and more recently by your involvements in PACEM and IMPACT, even hosting the IMPACT office.

We give thanks to God for all the ways God has used your congregation for God’s mission in this community.

Along with these important ministries, there have been challenging times as well. Times of anxiety…times of conflict…and times of change. We are aware that over the last few years St Mark has been in a time of tension and transition. On the surface, one could look at the smaller membership numbers and conclude that the strength of the congregation has diminished. However, God does not look at the appearance of things, but at the heart. Through the eyes of God we can see how St. Mark has been sustained by God’s grace, and strengthened in faith and leadership for its future mission. (When we are weak, God’s power is most able to be demonstrated.)

In a way, you have been on a similar journey as the patriarch Abraham.

In the middle years of his life, Abraham was called by God to leave everything that is familiar, safe, and meaningful to him: his country, his people, his father’s household, and to trust God for the future.

It seems that in the Bible, whenever someone is invited to a life-changing experience with God, that person is confronted with the voice of God that says leave, leave it all, and follow me.

To Abraham, the voice speaks:

"Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

(To potential disciples, the voice of Jesus speaks: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. - Mark 8:34-35)

Abraham is called to obey the voice and to trust the voice.

(Abraham trusted enough to leave home, but not enough to put his survival in the hands of God. At times Abraham tried to secure his own future, to help God out in fulfilling his promises—to bring God’s promise about by his own means and according to his own timing.)

Through his journey with God, Abraham learned that God had a plan for him. That even in his old years, God wanted to bless him so that through him all the people of the earth might be blessed.

A congregation like St. Mark might be tempted to look back over its history and think that its glory days belong in the past. But God demonstrates that God is the God of the present and the future.

As God speaks through the prophet Isaiah,

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isa 43:18-19)

And so, in the midst of the people of St. Mark, a new vine is growing.

God is preparing for you new things to do. God will be leading you to new places.

God has been leading you on a journey to learn to rely on God and to trust in God in all things.

Over the last two years, you have begun refurbishing your building and grounds and have prepared to welcome a new pastor. These are the signs of the new things that God is stirring up for you. They represent that same renewed spirit of anticipation and hope that Abraham, Jesus and His disciples knew. The arrival of a new pastor will bring about a new time of discerning God’s call into God’s mission. What a joyful anticipation that is for you and for all of us as your co-laborers.

We celebrate this new adventure with you and we pray for you in the words with which the apostle Paul prayed for the Christians in Rome:

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)