Council update: St. Mark’s ready to elect a Call Committee

Cross and stained glass window

Dear St. Mark’s Congregation,

What a long strange trip it has been. 2020 is not the year we thought it would be. In spite of significant obstacles and through the power of the Holy Spirit, St. Mark’s has continued to thrive and grow. Our Transition Team has created our Covenant Journey and has indicated that St. Mark’s is ready to start the call process for our new pastor.

Praise God!

St. Mark’s Council met with The Rev. Robin Litton from the Delaware-Maryland Synod to discuss how to move forward. We have been assured that there is a way. There has been movement of pastors within the Synod during the pandemic and it is vitally important that we move forward.

On September 13, Council approved a slate of eight candidates (see the full list below) to be on the Call Committee. This group of members must be elected by the Congregation to be on the Call Committee as per our Constitution (C13.04).

Council has scheduled a Special Congregational Meeting for Sunday, October 4, immediately following the 10 a.m. worship service, to elect the Call Committee members. You may participate in the meeting in person in the sanctuary or watch it electronically as an extended part of our live-stream coverage on YouTube.

St. Mark’s constitution also requires that election of Call Committee members must be done in person. No proxy or absentee ballots are permitted.

Ballots have been mailed to members and will also be available onsite. They will be collected in the parking lot until 1 p.m. on Oct. 4. If you participate in the congregational meeting remotely (via YouTube), you must still come in person to St. Mark’s by 1 p.m. to submit your ballot. You will not need to leave your car, but you must deliver your own ballot.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Kitty Dombroski

St. Mark’s Council President

Call Committee Nominees

These are the nominees for St. Mark’s Call Committee:

Amy Lane

A lifelong Lutheran, Amy and her husband, Kevin, live in Wilmington, Delaware. They have two adult children. Amy and Kevin have been members of St. Mark’s since moving to Delaware from Nashville, Tennessee, in 2001.

Amy’s professional background includes significantAmy Lane human resources and business experience. She was St. Mark’s first Director of Education & Outreach, then worked as the office manager and, eventually, as an HR specialist for the non-profit Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children. She then became a fiscal management analyst for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. She now is the administrative specialist and a member of the management team at the University of Delaware’s Center for Disabilities Studies.

“I’m honored to be considered for the St. Mark’s Search Committee and I look forward to participating in the process as God guides us to the spiritual leader that will be the best fit for our congregation.”

Cheryl Powell

Cheryl is a relatively new member of St. Mark’s, having arrived in early 2015 by way of Philadelphia. Cheryl Powell She is a physician’s assistant, currently employed at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center. She is also a retired Navy yeoman.

An avid reader, she also enjoys sewing, cooking and singing, and is a member of the St. Mark’s choir, along with her brother, David McClure.

She has a grown son, Duncan, who is a graduate engineer, working in civil engineering at a firm in Missouri. His girlfriend, Corrine, is completing her veterinary degree. Cheryl and David reside in Claymont.

Elise Mitchell

Elise has lived in Wilmington since 2001 and became a member of St. Mark’s in 2003. Elise MitchellShe has been married to Tom for 17 years and they have two boys, Graham, 13, and Clayton, 11.

Elise has worked for Enterprise Car Sales for 16 years.

She is a member of St. Mark’s altar guild and enjoys crafting and restoring their home.

Francine Passerini

Francine has been been a member of St. Mark’s for 14 years. During that time, she has served as a Steven Minister and has been part of the Wednesday Bible study group, the craft group, Francine PasseriniCaring Hearts, co-chair of the Lutheran Community Services breakfast and (prior to COVID-19) was a tutor at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant’s after-school program called “Edge.” She has participated in many women’s and charitable activities.

Francine is a wife, mother of three and “Nonni” to 12 grandchildren. She is a native of Wilmington and a retired elementary and middle school teacher.

“I look forward to working with the Call Committee, the Church Council and the congregation with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to jointly select our next pastor.”

Jerry Schrack

Jerry has been a member of St. Mark’s since 2004. He is happily married to Cecilia and the Jerry Schrackproud father of Dana, Solomon and Holly.

Jerry has served St. Mark’s as a Sunday school teacher for the preschool and elementary age classes and most recently served as the “Zero Gravity” youth leader with Cecilia.

The Schracks live in North Wilmington. Jerry works at Swarthmore College as assistant Director of Horticulture and Grounds.

Michael K. Patterson

Mike has been a member of St. Mark’s since 2006. He is married to Faith, who serves on St. Mark’s Leadership Council, and has a son, a stepdaughter, two stepsons and six grandchildren. He Mike Patterson earned a B.S. degree from the University of Delaware in Operations Management Business and an MBA from Wilmington University.

He is a retired field grade Army officer with approximately 25 years of military service and a retired senior department head director of hospital in Pennsylvania, with more than 25 years of experience in facilities management.

Mike worked as a quality engineer with Thiokol Corporation, which manufactured rocket motors for satellites. He now teaches military science Army ROTC at the University of Delaware. His previous teaching experience included Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a public high school in Philadelphia.

Vicki McDowell

Vicki is an active member of St. Mark’s, teaching confirmation classes, serving as co-leader of the Wednesday Bible Study and participating in Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening Vicki McDowellBible studies. She is also a member of the Delmarva Emmaus community, actively sponsoring and supporting church members on their “Walk to Emmaus” experience and an active member in their “Fourth Day” community of alumni.

She is a member of the Kairos Prison Ministry Program in Delaware and served on six teams with the Maryland Women’s Team at Jessup (MCI-W).

Currently retired, she served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, attaining the rank of master sergeant. She has also done a lot of farm work and has worked as a groom with show horses, as a ranch manager and as the caregiver for her mother, the late Roberta Dukes.

Wayne Smiley

Wayne has attended St. Mark’s since 2009 and says he enjoyed the worship experience so much that he attended a new member class and joined the church.Wayne Smiley

Wayne was elected to the St. Mark’s Leadership Council in 2011 and was elected president of the Council at the beginning of his second term. He served two years as president.

He has played guitar with the contemporary worship band “Souls on Fire” for the last three years.

Today’s message: ‘Who do you say that I am?’

The Rev. Barbara Melosh

There is much to love about our prerecorded worship service today, including a guest message from the Rev. Barbara Melosh, a visit with Interim Pastor David Mueller’s menagerie, wonderful music and Scriptures.

We also have important news about our reopening day (September 6!) and a new video — starring our own Teresa Stebner and Nancy Wilkerson and produced by John Lasher, director of music and worship arts — that demonstrates the procedures that will be in place to protect the safety of all.

Also participating in today’s service are Beth Miller, worship assistant, this week’s virtual choir — Dave Herrmann, Allen and Myrna Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner — and soloist Arden Shindel.

Our guest speaker, the Rev. Barbara Melosh, is a second-career pastor, ordained in 2005 after a teaching career (English and history) spent mostly at George Mason University. Her first call was to a small church in Baltimore city, a story told in her 2018 book “Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor’s Journey.”

Since her retirement in 2014 she has served as interim pastor at Grace in Hockessin, St. Stephen’s in Wilmington and Hope in New Castle. She is dean of the Delaware-Maryland Synod’s Delmarva North and Delmarva South conferences, convening colleagues for Bible study, shared ministry and mutual support.

You can access the prerecorded worship service on our YouTube channel through the link here and find the text of Pastor Melosh’s message below, too.

“Who do you say that I am?”

The Rev. Barbara Melosh

 

This question marks a turning point in the gospel of Matthew, and in the life of Jesus. It’s spoken as Jesus’ ministry is growing at a phenomenal rate—from a few people gathered from almost accidental encounters, called from their boats or, in the case of Matthew, called from their jobs as tax collectors, and now spreading like wildfire, with huge crowds that are following Jesus everywhere.

The carpenter from Nazareth has become the miracle worker of Galilee. He’s hosted a picnic for more than 5,000, out of just a few loaves and fishes, and a few days later, a replay — feeding 4,000 men, plus women and children.

Everybody’s talking about him, and Jesus turns to his disciples to check out the buzz.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

The disciples give their briefing. “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

So they report that some see Jesus as part of a rogue movement, those followers of the strange wilderness prophet John the Baptist. Others place him in the long line of God’s prophets known in Hebrew scripture, from Elijah to Jeremiah.

Jesus goes on, “But who do you say that I am?”

And then Peter takes a breathtaking leap. Others have called him a prophet, many have called him “Lord” — a title of honor, used for God but also for people in positions of power. But for the first time, Peter calls him Messiah — the anointed one, the long-awaited savior foretold in Hebrew scripture. “Messiah” is a Hebrew word, and in Greek that word is “Christos” — Christ. And “Son of the living God.”

A bold proclamation, pronounced defiantly at a site that the gospel’s first hearers would have recognized. The story takes place at Caesarea Philippi, located 20-some miles from the sea of Galilee, part of the foothills of Mount Hermon. It contains a massive rock face that is still there today.Hermon Springs

That rock face held religious and political significance. It had been a place for the worship of the ancient god Ba’al, god of the storm. Then it was a place sacred to the worship of Pan, the Greek god of wildness, woods, and sexuality. And then, in the time of Jesus, the site had become a monument to the conquest of the region by Rome. Herod built a temple there to Caesar — and so for Jews, this site was a bitter reminder of of the triumph of Roman power.

Peter called Jesus “Son of the living God.” That was treason. “Son of God” was a title reserved for the emperor, wielding power by divine right.

“Messiah, Son of God.” Those same words got Jesus killed. Religious leaders brought him to trial. At the turning point, the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus replied, “ ‘You have said so. But I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” (Matt 26:64)

That answer sent him to the cross.

Right after Peter calls him “Messiah, son of the living God,” Jesus tells the disciples, for the first time, what will happen to him. That he will suffer, be killed and rise again.

“Who do you say that I am?”

In Jesus’ own day, there were many answers to that question. His disciples called him Teacher, Rabbi. His opponents called him a blasphemer, a heretic. His critics called him a glutton and a drunkard.

“Who do you say that I am?”

Christians have had many answers to that question.

    • Prince of Peace; for some Christians to be a Christian is to be a pacifist, standing in opposition to all wars.
    • Mother — maybe you never thought of that one, but there is a medieval saint whose ecstatic visions of Jesus revealed him as a nursing mother, milk coming from his breasts.
    • Good Shepherd, the one who cares for his sheep and will stop at nothing to find the one who is lost.
    • Defender of the weak, advocate for the most vulnerable.
    • Liberator, come to set us free.
    • Healer of our every ill.
    • Mighty Counselor.
    • Judge of the nations.
    • Ethical teacher and example.
    • Comforter.
    • Lover.
    • Friend.

“Who do you say that I am?”

It’s a question that takes us to our foundation. For three centuries, Christians struggled and fought and sometimes killed one another to work out an answer they could agree on and that’s what the creeds are — the church’s effort to say who Jesus is, and how Jesus can be God for people who worship one God, not three; but one God who IS three.

Before the creeds we use got written, early Christians used a shorter one in their worship. “Who do you say that I am?” Their answer was the three-word creed, “Jesus is Lord.”

Jesus is Lord. It’s still a good answer. Jesus is Lord, calling us to turn away from all our own false gods — money, success, power, security, self-improvement, even religion itself. Not Donald Trump. Not Joe Biden. Not even Anthony Fauci!

“Who do you say that I am?”

Over the centuries there have been many answers to that question, just as there are today. But Peter’s answer gets down to solid rock. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” The Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. “Son of the living God”—not the gods of pagan worship, not the idols of our own day, not a God who made the world and then left us to work out the mess we’ve made of it; but the Son of the living God.

Where is that God at work in this time of pandemic, when we are separated from one another; worn thin with pandemic protocols; frustrated and angry and fearful about what is happening to our country?

That God meets us at the cross. The place where we come face to face with who we are — and who God is. The place we come to when we get all the way down to rock bottom, to stand again on solid rock.

Thanks be to God.

Sundays with our Synod

Bishop William Gohl

During this time of Coronavirus pandemic, when congregations including St. Mark’s have canceled services to prevent spread of the virus, our Synod — the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCA — is posting a Sunday service of the Word. You can watch Bishop William Gohl here.

Peace to you all!