January 2022 – St. Mark's Online

January 29, 2022

Snowstorm update: Sunday worship canceled, annual meeting postponed

An illustration showing a line of colorful snow shovels

Because of snow, ice and frigid temperatures, St Mark’s has canceled our worship service for Sunday, January 30, and postponed the annual meeting which was to follow. The annual meeting now is scheduled for Sunday, February 6. The time and other details will be announced shortly.

Many previous services are available online at our YouTube channel. If you missed one, this may be a great time to catch up!

Alternatively, you may want to take a virtual visit to another congregation of the Delaware-Maryland Synod. Our Synod’s website has a directory of congregations that offer online services.

Please stay warm and safe!

January 29, 2022January 29, 2022

New Pettit Scholarship to benefit Hilltop youth

We thank God for a new scholarship designed to provide support for students affiliated with one of St. Mark’s ministry partners, Hilltop Lutheran Neighborhood Center.

The scholarship, created in honor of the Rev. Clarence and Helen Pettit by philanthropists Gordon and Fran Fisher, will help multiple students with the cost of private secondary schooling and/or post-secondary schooling.

The Pettits have served the community for many years and Clarence Pettit will also be familiar to those who have seen St. Mark’s Midweek Extra videos, where he was featured in several conversations with our former Interim Pastor David Mueller.

The scholarship offers successful applicants up to $2,000 for tuition and up to $500 for textbooks.

All are invited to support Hilltop students and honor the Pettits through this fund. To learn more about the scholarship and how to give, visit Hilltop’s website.

January 7, 2022

Update from Council: Shifting protocols for in-person worship

St Mark’s Council met on Tuesday, January 4, to discuss the surge in Covid cases in Delaware and our safety response at St Mark’s.

After a lively discussion we decided to continue having in-person Sunday worship as well as the 10 a.m. Winter Forum for Sunday January 9, 16 and 23rd — with the following restrictions:

There will be no live music. John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, has pre-recorded music that we will use during our services. We are also asking worshippers not to sing.

We are requiring that everyone sit 6 feet away from other worshipping family groups.

We are asking that everyone wear a medical-grade paper mask. We will have them at the church for all those who do not have one. If you prefer a cloth mask, we ask that you wear the paper mask under your cloth mask. These restrictions are for the safety of the people around you.

We will use Communion Kits only. For now, we will not go to the altar for communion.

The Winter Forum will continue as scheduled as long as our presenters are comfortable with our restrictions. Chairs will be socially distanced in the Great Room.

I know this is not how we want to participate in our Church Life at St Mark’s, but the Council believes that for the next few weeks, until this surge is over, these restrictions will enable us to be together, in person.

Admittedly, there is still risk and I can’t guarantee you will not be infected. If you have been exposed to Covid or exposed to people who are unvaccinated please stay home. If you do not feel safe; please stay home. We will continue to have worship services online. We will also have recorded Winter Forum sessions on St Mark’s YouTube site.

There will be information in the coming weeks concerning the Annual Meeting currently scheduled for Sunday, January 30.

Thank you,

Kitty Dombroski

President, St Mark’s Council

News & People

Historic photo of Brandywine Hundred Fire Company No. 1

Celebrating the centennial of Brandywine Hundred Fire Company No. 1!

September 21, 2024

Did you know St. Mark’s has strong ties with Brandywine Hundred Fire Company No. 1, stretching back more than 80 years? Our first service was held on the second floor of the company’s fire house on Jan. 11, 1942. We moved to our current site almost a decade later, and our first service was held in our new building on Christmas Eve 1951. When a disastrous fire broke out in our building in May of 1969, our firefighting neighbors rushed to our aid. You can read more about that fire and our history on our website. This year, Brandywine Hundred Fire Company No. 1 marks its 100th anniversaryand we have plans to join their celebration and honor these first responders.

Get into something good with us this summer!

June 1, 2024

Join us as we launch our new summer schedule and get into something good together! Our summer schedule starts Sunday, June 2, with adult education at 9 a.m., fellowship at 10 and a single worship service at 10:30 a.m. Pastor Kelley will lead our first adult education class of the summer (9 a.m. on June 2), as we discuss the recent visit of Shane Claiborne, a Christian activist from Philadelphia who works for peace and non-violence in local, national and international initiatives. He demonstrated the work of the RAW Tools project during his visit on May 25, using the hammer and anvil in the photograph above to show how lethal weapons can be transformed into useful tools. God does transformative work in us, too, as we connect for study, prayer, worship and service. We also have plans to get together at community events this summer, using those opportunities to get to know each other better and get to know our neighbors better, too. We hope you’ll join us as this new summer journey begins!

Swords to Plowshares: ‘Youtherans’ host Shane Claiborne at St. Mark’s May 25

May 22, 2024

Join us Saturday afternoon, May 25 for a very special event as the “Youtherans” and Lutheran churches (ELCA) in Delaware and Maryland welcome Shane Claiborne and the “Swords to Plowshares: Forging Peace. Disarming Hearts” project to St. Mark’s. Using a forge and a hammer, Claiborne will demonstrate how weapons of violence — guns that were donated, broken down and decommissioned — can be turned into garden tools and other instruments of peace. The public event will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s parking lot. The Raw Tools project draws its inspiration from a Scripture passage in Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, they will train for war no more. Everyone will sit under their own vine and fig tree. No one shall make them afraid.” Also participating Saturday will be the Rev. Raymont Anderson, a survivor of gun violence and a representative of the Newark chapter of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Claiborne is the co-author of “Beating Guns: Hope for People Who are Weary of Violence.” He worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, and is the founder of The Simple Way in Philadelphia and the leader of Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks committed to living “as if Jesus meant the things he said.” In 2023, he received The King Center’s Beloved Community Award for Social Justice from Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. “We do more than turn guns into garden tools. We are turning violence into peace. We are turning fear into trust. Through relationship, dialogue, and resources, we are welcoming neighbors with loving arms rather than bearing arms. Join us.”