Lent is a time when we are invited to deepen our faith by engaging in different practices. Here at St. Mark’s, we will have several opportunities as we journey toward the cross.
On Ash Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m., we will gather for worship in our sanctuary. Worship will include the imposition of ashes and the celebration of Holy Communion. The service will also be livestreamed to our YouTube channel for those who cannot join us in person.
Pastor Kelley will also offer “Ashes to Go” throughout the day on Ash Wednesday. Depending on the weather, plans are to offer this from 8 to 9 a.m. on the front lawn, from noon to 1 p.m. in the parking lot and from 3 to 4 p.m. on the front lawn.
Our mid-day Lenten midweek series begins Wednesday, February 25. We will gather for a short worship service based on the Lenten devotional “Love Outpoured.” Each week, we will join together for song, prayer and Scripture. The devotional book focuses on portions of Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he lays out foundational beliefs for a life of faith in Christian community. The schedule will be:
Please join us at 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, as we worship with our neighbors at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant (503 Duncan Rd.) to celebrate their more than 83 years of ministry in the Bellefonte community.
It is a bittersweet meeting, as this will be PCOC’s final worship service as a congregation. They will close the doors of their church for the last time.
We want to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ to worship our Lord and honor and celebrate with joy the good work the PCOC congregation has done in this place.
The service begins at 10 a.m., with a reception to follow.
Please join us Sunday as we thank the Lord for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. We hope to see you there!
We are grateful for the significance of this Christmas season and rejoice to celebrate God’s most glorious gift — Jesus the Christ. We invite you to join us as we worship together on Christmas Eve!
We are planning two services:
4 p.m. — Contemporary family service
8 p.m. — Traditional candlelight service
Our office will be closed on Christmas Day and also on Friday, Dec. 26 so that our staff may enjoy the holiday with their families.
On Sunday, Dec. 28, we will have one 10:30 a.m.Unity Service, with Lessons and Carols.There will be no other classes on that day.
We hope to see you soon! If you are unable to attend in person, all of these services will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel.
Save the date and join us for St. Mark’s popular Christmas Bazaar, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6.
You’ll find unique handmade gifts and crafts, gift baskets, delicious soups and baked goods, floral arrangements, a fun Lionel train display and much more! A small collection of “white elephant” items also will be available — and who knows what you’ll find there?!
All are welcome to join us and admission is free. This is a one-day event that you don’t want to miss!
You also are welcome to participate in our annual Advent Prayer Vigil, which will be held simultaneously from 9 a.m. to noon in our Sanctuary. Advent music is the backdrop for silent prayer and meditation and an Advent Prayer Guide will be provided. Many find this a refreshing and meaningful interlude during the busy-ness of the holidays.
The Fourth of July is my husband’s favorite holiday. He makes sure we have our flag correctly displayed, and decorates our front yard with an appropriate amount of red, white and blue. We find a good spot to watch fireworks, making sure to “ooh” and “aah” at all the right times. And it’s just not the Fourth of July in the Ketcham household if we don’t watch the musical “1776.”
All in all, the day is one of great joy and celebration. I find it difficult to not be swept up in love for my country in the midst of it all. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines patriotism as “love for or devotion to one’s country,” and on this day, patriotism runs deep within my soul.
But I have to admit that this year the Fourth of July hits a little differently. My heart grieves as I see this country — founded, formed and built by immigrants — rounding up and deporting even those who are legal residents. My heart grieves as I fear for the safety of our armed forces, as the possibility of another war looms over the Middle East. My heart grieves as I see people amassing fortunes while exploiting the workers who serve them.
As Christians, we can be patriotic. We can love our country; we can be proud of our country; we can be grateful that we live in our country. As Jim Wallis said in his book, God’s Politics: A New Vision for Faith and Politics in America: “Patriotism means loving your country and its best ideals, enough even to oppose it when it is grievously wrong.” As Christians, we are called to examine how best to live out our patriotism. Some of us may choose to contact our elected leaders. Some of us may choose civil disobedience to demand our country live up to its best ideals.
What we don’t do is put our love and devotion of country over and above our love and devotion for God. Nor do we assume that every other person in this country believes the same way that we do, because that is Christian nationalism.
Christian nationalism is the belief that Christianity should be privileged since our country was founded by Christians. But while the founders were Christian, and a majority of Americans still identify as Christian today, Christianity is not the declared religion of this country. It runs counter to the First Amendment, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free expression thereof.” This means that our government cannot mandate a national religion, and that — while we are free to believe whatever we believe — we cannot demand that others conform to the same belief system.
Christian nationalism is a perversion and a threat to democracy. It runs counter to all that we hold dear. It places us over and above others, rather than serving them. Christian nationalism is something Christians should run from and fight against, not embrace.
So this year, as we go to cookouts, watch fireworks and listen to Sousa marches with hands upon our hearts, may our patriotism continue to run deep, and may we continue to call out and condemn Christian nationalism in all its variations.
It’s a most special week for the St. Mark’s family and all who follow Jesus, for it is during this Holy Week that we commemorate the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We have several opportunities to gather, worship and reflect on the transformative love that redeems and empowers us for loving service to others.
Except for the prayer vigil, we will also stream all of these services on our YouTube channel. Click below on the time of the service for a link to its specific livestream or recording.
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.
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.
Lutheran Services in America (LSA) was founded in 1997 as a joint venture between the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a way to serve their neighbors. While they are headquartered in Washington, D.C., the LSA network reaches 1 in 50 people in America each year. To put that in Delaware terms, approximately 21,000 Delawareans benefit from services that LSA provides. To learn more about LSA, visit www.lutheranservices.org.
Global Refuge (formally known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, or LIRS) was founded in 1939 to provide assistance and services for refugees from Germany and Eastern Europe. Since then, Global Refuge has assisted with refugees from Cuba, Uganda, Vietnam, Sudan and Afghanistan, among other countries. To learn more about Global Refuge, visit www.globalrefuge.org.
In Delaware, we have Lutheran Community Services, which was founded in 1959 to address the independent living needs of seniors in our area. In the 1980’s, under the guidance of St. Mark’s member Ruth Flexman, LCS became heavily involved in emergency food and housing assistance. Today, food distributions have expanded, and housing activities include rental and utility assistance, security deposits, and housing stability case management. St. Mark’s members continue to support the ministries of LCS by serving at food pantries and participating in the Walk/Run every September. To learn more about LCS, visit www.lcsde.org.
I wish to stress that I am not arguing for or against any specific elected official. Elected officials have the authority to use taxpayer money how they deem best, in accordance with the law. But these decisions must be based in truth, not libelous accusations. Bishop Eaton mentions in her video that we follow the Eighth Commandment, which commands us to “not bear false witness against our neighbor.” When public officials claim that the Church’s ministries are illegitimate, the Church must speak the truth against these falsehoods.
So – how can you respond?
First, pray! Pray for our elected leaders, that they may make wise and just decisions on behalf of the people they serve. Pray for those whose well-being is affected by the cuts to necessary support programs. Pray for these agencies, and the many like them, that they may continue to spread God’s love to the world through their work.
Pastor Kelley Ketcham
Second, if you are able, please donate to these agencies to support their ministries. Links to donate may be found at any of the above websites.
Finally, if you are so inclined, I invite you to reach out to your elected officials. Here in Delaware, we are served in Congress by U.S. Senators Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester, and U.S. Representative Sarah McBride. Call, write, or email their offices to let them know about the good work Lutherans are doing in this country and throughout the world.
I am proud of the good work our Church does in the world, and I hope you are as well.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.
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.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, Join us as we participate in the fire company’s parade! We’ll meet at 10 a.m. at the former Hillcrest-Bellefonte United Methodist Church, 400 Hillcrest Avenue. The parade steps off at noon and ends at the Bellevue Community Center, across the street from St. Mark’s. We will walk to the end of the parade route, but plan to have a truck riding in the parade for anyone who wants to participate but cannot walk that distance. After the parade, the fire company invites the community to join the celebration at the firehouse at 1006 Brandywine Blvd. in Bellefonte . For more information, please speak to Greg or Lynne Landrey, Gail Rodger or Vicki McDowell.
On Sunday, Oct. 6, we will host a Service of Honor and Blessing, marking the Brandywine Hundred Fire Company’s 100 years of service to our community. This will be part of our worship service, starting at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow the service.
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!
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 RAW Tools’ “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 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.”
