March 2025 – St. Mark's Online

Join us for “Sing With All the Saints in Glory!” — weekly mid-day worship services on Wednesdays throughout Lent.

We’ll gather at 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary for these services, which will also be live-streamed on our YouTube channel.

Each week will feature stories of the saints whose commemorations occur during Lent this year. In remembering these saints, we find hope and encouragement for our own faith journeys.

The schedule is as follows:

12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12: Perseverance with Endurance – Perpetua and Felicity; Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.
12:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 19; Faithful in Prayer – Gregory the Great; Patrick.
12:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 26: Striving for Justice – Joseph; Óscar Romero.
12:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 2: Dying and Rising with Christ – Hans Nielsen Hauge; John Donne.
12:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 9: Resistance against Tyranny – Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

News & People

A group of people with Lutheran Services in America and a title that says "This is What Happens When We Come Together"

A special message from Pastor Kelley Ketcham

February 5, 2025

Dear Beloved in Christ, If you are on social media, you have probably seen the inflammatory and libelous remarks by former General Michael Flynn and Elon Musk regarding Lutheran Social Service agencies across the United States. In these posts, both Flynn and Musk accused these agencies of money laundering and insinuated that the Lutheran faith was made up for that purpose. For the record, the organizations targeted in these posts are legally recognized organizations that receive federal grants to carry out programs such as housing assistance, food pantries, disaster assistance, mental health programs and youth services. These grants have been legally obtained, and as such, have strict guidelines as to how they may be spent. Presiding Bishop of the ELCA Elizabeth Eaton has responded to the falsehoods shared in these posts with a video message. In addition to Bishop Eaton’s remarks, I also want to respond to these attacks against these agencies. Please click on “read more” to see our messages.

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!