Virus Msg

Dear Sisters and Brothers of St. Marks,

After discussion about the Corona Virus situation, your St. Mark’s council came to the following consensus:

The majority of our worshipping community is in the high risk population for this disease. It therefore is wise if most of us stayed out of the public and away from crowds as much as possible. It is therefore best that we suspend worship, both Sunday and Wednesday, and Wednesday bible study. Per our bishop’s strong recommendation, all services are suspended for the next 8 weeks.

In the meantime, the LSIM ministers (pastors and deacons) will make and maintain telephone contact with as many of you and the LSIM parishioners as possible every week. The congregation must keep track of the wellbeing of its own and in absence of seeing you all at worship, the staff will do its best to make sure you have pastoral care.

This week the LSIM ministers are planning to provide broadcasted services to all of the LSIM churches via YouTube/Facebook. While you may not hear Pastor Kruse, Vicar Prill, or myself giving the sermon, you will see us as part of the worship service. We are also making plans to celebrate Easter when our regular services return. Information will be posted on the Messenger. The event of the Corona virus comes at a weighty time for St. Mark’s. At its last meeting on March 2nd, your council decided to enter in to negotiations with LSIM to arrange for LSIM to, possibly, assume ownership of the building so that outreach mission in the name of Jesus might continue in downtown Fairborn while at the same time affording St. Mark’s access to the place it has called home so Sunday morning worship can continue. It is a proposal that needs due consideration once its details are worked out and it also will need your involvement as a congregational decision must be made in the near future. The council and staff will keep you informed as this develops.

Our governor has asked that we practice “Social Distancing” in the days to come. This does not mean shunning one another. We have access to phones and computers that allow us to bear with one another and lift one another up. Let us do so and persist in doing so in the weeks to come. You will not see one another. At least talk to one another, pray for one another, and pray to the Lord of Heaven and Earth to send us grace and relief. Please feel free to call me at 937-269- 6359 or 937-879-2001 if you need to lift up a member for assistance or if you need to talk. You also may call the church office and have JT locate me.

Lastly, remember your church giving pledges. If you wish to give electronically, please click here, otherwise you may mail in your offerings. We still need to pay salaries, utilities, insurance, etc.

Psalm 145:18 reads,
The Lord is close to everyone who prays to him, to all who truly pray to Him.

Max Lucado writes in Grace for the Moment that healing begins when we do something. Healing begins when we reach out. Healing starts when we take a step. God’s help is near and always available but is only given to those who seek it. Nothing results from apathy - God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched, whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh—Jesus stops. He stops and responds. We are in the season of Lent, a time of introspection and repentance. A time of spiritual disciplines. But here we are, amid a viral illness that is spread as easily as the flu or common cold. It has shaken us to our core. We are afraid and huddled at home. I can even imagine the thoughts of “Why is God doing this to us?” We are driven by fear, not by faith. Perhaps we are seeing a way of mending families, neighbors, and ourselves. Healing happens when we reach out, but we need to have faith that we can reach out safely. As Lucado goes on further, nothing results from apathy as well. Maybe we feel that we are in control of ourselves - after all, I can isolate myself from everyone else and there goes any community relationships. So, what is my point, you ask? First, do not fear as God is as close as a simple prayer - ”help me, God”. We reach out to others in our neighborhoods, especially the vulnerable. We take measured risks by reaching out after washing our hands and disinfecting where needed. We remain healthy emotionally, physically, AND spiritually. How are you being spiritually fed and comforted in this difficult time? What can we see as healing in this pandemic? And of course, how’s your prayer life? You cannot do it alone; you need God by your side.

Blessings, Nancy Trimble Deacon