Tag: Kitty Dombroski

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Hold On: A message from our Council President

Photo of Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, taken by Liza Agsalud. Used under CC2.0

I’ve been listening to music over the past few months while stuck in the house. I always feel better when I listen to songs I love and I tend to get them stuck in my head. YouTube is nice, it’s free and a bit of a time waster. Perfect.

I started with Bonnie Raitt singing “Angel from Montgomery,” but then John Prine died of COVID-19 and I was bummed. The world lost a beautiful writer. I don’t care how old he was.

The April “Lion” arrived and after reading Rev Mueller’s Musings I had Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young wailing “Ohio” for days. The distrust resonated with me.

Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Exodus” came next. Not exactly Lutheran theology, but I like being one of Jah people — even if just for a few minutes.

And now — Alabama Shakes. “Hold On.” I can’t get it out of my head. If you haven’t heard it (and you like loud, rock, Janis Joplin-type music) find it on YouTube. It’s addictive. Brittany Howard mentions somebody up above a few times in the lyrics so God’s in there too. At least I believe he is. It’s my kind of prayer — especially when she wails “I don’t wanna wait.” It feels like a cry from one of the Psalms.

St Mark’s Council met on May 17. It was a long meeting — three hours. We had a lot to discuss. Fortunately, before I wrote this letter, the Governor sent guidelines for opening churches. And then we heard from the ELCA and then the Synod. We are getting a lot of advice. But, to be clear, no one is sure. We have a lot of information and common sense to sift through. Members of the congregation have had some great ideas too.

And now we have to buy stuff that may take awhile to get here. We need to be clean and safe. We are still working on a tentative date and we’ll get those specifics out when we have them. We have to be safe. But I want you to know we are working on a plan.

Council formed a Building Safety Committee to come up with suggestions for opening the building for a service. The Worship and Music Committee is working on how to have a safe service. We may not know exactly when we will be together but we will do our best to be safe. Council will meet again on May 31 via Zoom for more discussion.

A few other things:

  • We applied and were approved for a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan. The money has been deposited in our account.
  • The Great Room is finished – waiting for us to return.
  • We have changed the locks on the outside doors. Inside door locks remain the same. We are going to be careful about distributing keys. There were way too many keys out there and this was a good time to get that under control. Let me know if you need to get in the church and I will arrange for you to get in. Council will decide on May 31 how many and who to give keys to. The church building remains closed at least through May 31.

Hold On.

Jesus is Coming Soon (it’s on YouTube, too).

 

Kitty Dombroski

President, St. Mark’s Leadership Council

Photo of Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard by Liza Agsalud of Los Angeles, Calif. / CC BY 2.0

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For such a time as this: A message from Kitty Dombroski

A laptop with a virtual meeting

“For such a time as this.”

Six words from the book of Esther I can’t get out of my head. As a country, as a church, as a congregation we have never seen anything like the time we are living. My emotions have been all over the place. Concern, worry, irritation and fear are just some of those. And yet, in the middle of all of it — always when least expected — a lot of good. For such a time as this. Our congregation amazes me as we continue to be there for each other.

St Mark’s Council met on Sunday April 19 — not the way we always have, in a room, facing each other — but in a new way, on the phone and on our computers. For such a time as this. I am grateful for technology. Technology has brought us connectivity and using it is keeping us together. Without skipping a beat our worship services continue — not the way we always have in the sanctuary, with each other, but in a new way – on the phone and on our computers.  For some, in the mail. For such a time as this. I am grateful for our Interim Pastor Council President Kitty Dombroskiand staff. I am grateful for our members and the use of the gifts we have been given. The gift of technology and knowledge and persistence and a willingness and desire to continue.

While most of us have been waiting and praying at home, for some in our church this has been a very busy time. Our Worship committee, Communication Team and Staff have worked many hours putting together worship services that seem almost effortless. For such a time as this.

Good News.

During this quiet time in our Church life members of our congregation have been busy painting the Great Room — floor to ceiling. The floors have been cleaned and waxed. A lot of hard work went in to that. I am grateful.

Over the past weeks, while we’ve been social distancing at home, our Mission Endowment Fund approved and funded purchasing equipment to record our weekly and Holy Week Services. Worship services were recorded, blended and edited. A lot of hard work. I am grateful.

Our website and specifically, the Worship service viewership has increased weekly. March 15, our first Sunday online, was visited 133 times. Easter Sunday, we had 437 visits. A lot of hard work. I am grateful.

Our Council and Transition Team continue to meet. Our staff continues to work. Our members are doing everything they can. Leadership is making difficult decisions. I encourage you to continue to reach out to one another. The church is the people – not the building. But you know that already. Speaking of the building – back to the practical. I strongly encourage you to continue giving financially to St Mark’s. Our bills still need to be paid. Giving is down.

St Mark’s is still here. Call the office or Pastor. Continue to pray. We will be together soon. For such a time as this.

Kitty Dombroski

President, Leadership Council

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