Monthly Message | September

Grace and peace to you!

For this space last month, I wrote about how the month of August provides a good time to rest before school year and fall schedules begin. Well, guess what? August is over, and we hit fall this month. If August was a quiet time for the church, September is 180 degrees opposite!

This month, we have things that resume after being off for the summer, including our Faith Explorer (Sunday School) classes for all ages, starting September 17; choir practices, both for the St. Mark Choir and the Christians with Rhythm Choir; and exercise classes that St. Mark hosts.

We also resume our watching and discussing the series, The Chosen. We will go through Season Three this fall. If you are interested in the series and want to get caught up and attend either our Zoom or in-person gatherings, just reach out to me.

Two new things also are part of September. We have our outdoor community worship and picnic September 10 at Porter Township Recreation Park in Lamar. Worship will be more informal this day, and I hope the remainder of the day will be for fun and fellowship — and, of course, food!

The other new thing I want to highlight for this month is the Congregational Vitality Survey St. Mark is doing, with the help and guidance of Pastor Kevin Shock (a member of St. Mark and assistant to the bishop of the Allegheny Synod). We are asking that you take some time to answer the 36 multiple-choice questions on the survey, which will be emailed out September 17. That day, Pastor Kevin will do a Ministry Moment during our worship service to talk about what is happening at the Allegheny Synod office and about this survey.

One of the main benefits of the survey is to help council and myself gain insights into how you see the church and the ministry work the church is doing. According to the information sheet from the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in American), it is a tool “to begin a conversation and new ways of working together to strengthen the whole church and participate in the mission of God to love and bless the world.”

I see this as a great time to participate in this survey. This month marks two years since I began as full-time pastor at St. Mark, and I have seen so much good that has happened here in that time with the ministry work we are doing together and participating in “the mission of God to love and bless the world.” It is a good time to see where we are and see what we want to do as we move forward together. If you have any questions or thoughts about the survey, or anything that is happening at St. Mark, feel free to reach out to me!

As we hit a busier time of year now, finding rest is still important. I pray you find rest during your busy weeks, and rest in the faith that Jesus is with each of you and loves you.

Pastor David