Standing with the Vulnerable

 Friends, 

Today’s message has two topics. First, we’ll look at where we are in our church life together. As a church that embraces the idea, “I am the church,” this first portion is an opportunity to live into that aspiration.

 

It’s October and in many churches October is known as “Stewardship month.” That title is a little humorous, since the original English term “Steward” was “Styward,”  or, “the keeper of the sty.” (Let’s not go there.) 

 

At St. Mark, this means that we have the opportunity to declare how we will use our personal resources to support our collective work as a church. Think about that for a moment. All the things you love about the collective work that we do at St. Mark is funded by the personal decisions that each of us make regarding our giving. To encourage those decisions, our Stewardship Theme this year is, “Now more than ever.” 

 

Now, more than ever, 

… the world needs a church that takes up the cross to follow Christ. 

… Orange County needs a body of Christ followers who serve God, not Mammon. 

… the gospel calls us to trust that good overcomes evil, and love overcomes hate. 

… someone you know need a table that is welcoming to everyone.

… the church needs to repent of past actions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity

… St. Mark needs to embrace a vision of God’s abundance, where we are joyfully satisfied with enough and generously ready to share our resources. 

 

I genuinely feel that our collective message and voice is needed now, more than ever. And if you feel the same, please do not let anything stop you from your wholehearted support and participation. 

………………………..

 

For our second topic, we have an opportunity we have to be a church that stands in solidarity with the poor, particularly those living among us with housing insecurity. Last year, Orange County received more than $33 million in federal Continuum of Care funds, which supports 1,448 people now in Permanent Supportive Housing and 375 people in Rapid Re-Housing programs. For 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a new Notice of Funding Opportunity which dramatically changed the parameters of qualifying for those funds. For example, Friendship Shelter Inc., one of our Deacon-supported organizations, serves homeless persons in South County with dignity and grace, but stand to lose an enormous part of their funding – not because their service is in any way deficient, but because they do things like allow their clients to identify their own gender or to identify as non-binary. The new HUD requirements reflect the Project 2025 agenda to stamp out “woke” practices, a political agenda that will particularly affect transitional age homeless persons (ages18-24) throughout the country. You can read more information from the National Alliance to End Homelessness here.

 

One thing you can do is to join with United to End Homelessness, Friendship Shelter, and other service organizations and go to this page of the Action Network to send a letter to Senators and Congressional Representatives. It only takes a short amount of time. 

 

As always, thank you for being the church,

Mark of St. Mark

Resisting the Vendor Shape of the Church

 Some years ago, George Hunsberger cautioned against what he called the “vendor shape” of many churches. When a church takes on a “vendor shape,” it loses its core identity as a unified body of Christ and become bifurcated into “consumers” and “vendors.” For example, Hunsberger once noted how a newspaper, writing about a church’s decision to build a new sanctuary, said, “A church has to decide how best to serve its congregation.” What is the difference between a “church” and its “congregation”? Hunsberger also pointed to one church’s mission statement that read: “First Presbyterian Church exists to offer the body of believers the opportunity to worship and glorify God.” Again, what is the difference between the “church” and “the body of believers”?  That bifurcated language only makes sense if the “church” is a group of people within the congregation, whose job is to offer programs and worship services and ministries that appeal to the rest of the congregation.  

When I read Hunsberger’s description of the “vendor shape” of the church, I started becoming aware of how often I use that kind of language. It is not as if there are some churches that are “vendor shaped” churches and others that really have it together. It is more the case that those of us who grew up in a vendor shaped culture are always tempted to lose the church’s core identity as an organic body and to think of the church as an entity that is out there to provide spiritual goods and services. Throughout the years we have rallied around several ways to remind ourselves what it means to be the church, a single body, with a variety of gifts and callings that work together as one. We sing songs like “Together we serve,” and “For Everyone Born,” and even alter the lyrics in order to ensure that each of us is included. We embrace themes, like “I am St. Mark” or “We are St. Mark.” We even have a Membership Commission, dedicated to finding ways to ensure that nobody feels marginalized or left out. St. Mark is not here to serve its members. St. Mark is its members and we’re here to glorify God through worship, loving one another, and serving God’s world. 

 

The reason I am reflecting on George Hunsberger’s important caution is because we are in that season when our Nominating Committee is seeking persons who would be willing to serve as Elders and Deacons beginning in 2026. Our Elders bear most of the decision-making responsibilities of the church, since the name Presbyterian implies “elder-driven.” And our Deacons provide the bridges between our congregation and different service organizations throughout Orange County. As a congregation that is called to worship, transformation, justice, stewardship, and service, the work of our Elders and Deacons is critical for enabling us to follow that call. 

 

This is precisely the place where we are tempted to take a “vendor shaped” approach to the church, expecting the church’s ministry to run well, but letting someone else bear the responsibility of leading them. And this is precisely the place where it is important to remember that we are the church. 

 

So, if you feel the call to step forward as an Elder or Deacon, let me know and I’ll connect you with the Nominating Committee. And if the Nominating Committee come knocking to invite you to consider one of those roles, please take some time to listen and consider whether this is your time to assume a servant-leader role. That’s how we move from saying, “St. Mark provides opportunities for its members to engage in ministry” to saying, “St. Mark engages in ministry, and I am St. Mark.” 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

Community Wisdom

 Friends,  

Last week I asked how you are doing in the midst of a week where violence and injustice was centered in all of our news feeds. And I invited you to reach out with your responses to the question, “What can we, who aspire to take up the cross, do in such a time as this?” 

 

Thank you for your responses. They demonstrate the deep maturity of faith that exists in this congregation, as well as a respectful honesty about our limits. Some of your suggestions pointed toward individual actions that we can take or attitudes that we can embrace. Others pointed to more systemic attitudes or practices that we can cultivate corporately, which can help establish a different order that is less antagonistic. Again, I thank all of you who responded for your thoughtfulness and for taking the time to share your thoughts. Here is some of the wisdom I was able to glean from your notes. 

 

Someone has encouraged us to attend to our rhetoric and, instead of using the word “fight” when we speak of resistance, to use the word “work.” They noted that word “work” is more compatible with picking up and carrying a cross and doesn’t require a winner or loser. 

 

Someone has encouraged us lean into curiosity over criticism, and listening over presumption or fault-finding.  

 

Someone has encouraged us to start each day, and take time throughout the day when a decision is required, with the question:  "What does the Lord require of you?" and the answer, "Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly".

 

Someone has encouraged us to pause in the noise and meditate mindfully. It can be a simple moment of breathing in grace and breathing out thanksgiving; it can be a time of silence and disconnection from the noise around or within; it can be a prayer; it can be a way of reminding us that we are part of something larger than what we see and feel. 

 

Someone has encouraged us to pay attention to our communication styles, whether they enhance or hinder engagement with those whose opinions differ. 

 

Someone has encouraged us to let only a certain amount of the news in and to pay attention to the sources which filter the news we do receive. 

 

Someone has encouraged us to find joy in volunteering, especially among those who are struggling the most. Helping someone matters, even if we can’t help everyone. 

 

Several persons have encouraged us to look at our vocation as a way of practicing our call to love others, work for peace, and advocate for justice, by the way we encounter others, use our voice, and exercise our power. 

 

As you can see, the responses that I received demonstrate how deeply ingrained our identity is as a community that not only rests in the joy of knowing that God redeems us, but responds to that joy by taking up the cross as the way of following Christ. that is beyond our understanding. 

 

I am incredibly humbled and thankful to be part of this journey with you. 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

A Week of Violence and Hubris

 Friends, 

This week has been a mess: A Supreme Court decision left anyone who seems identifiably non-white vulnerable to raids and arrests; a decision by HUD left many organizations that have been providing service for homeless persons suddenly defunded if they do not begin to espouse a particular political party line; a school shooting in Denver, the second in two weeks, continuing a sickening kind of violence that is affecting our youth far more than many of our elected leaders will admit; and a tragic and evil political assassination in Utah took a life and opened a door for more violence. Each of these actions grows out of our culture of violence and each has the potential to continue the downward spiral of escalatory violence. For people of faith, our question is how to resist allowing our own anger to devolve into yet another layer of retaliatory rhetoric or action. 

 

So, how are you doing in the midst of all of this? 

 

This week, the United Methodist Church issued a very powerful statement in response to the Supreme Court decision to allow racial profiling that said, “This ruling deepens fear among those whose first language is not English, whose accents are noticeable, and whose very appearance, workplace, or attire may now be used by agents as a pretext for questioning. It forces entire communities to live under the constant threat of harassment without cause. People become targets for scrutiny simply for existing.”  You can read the entire statement here.

 

So, how are you doing in the midst of all of this? 

 

I have heard from St. Mark members who live in fear of being rounded up because of their ethnicity, as well as students who go to school anxiously every day because the fear of violence, as well as couples who fear that their marriage will be the next target. Last week, in my sermon, I mentioned how the New Testament was written to audiences who shared these kinds of anxieties. It was to people living in fear of government sanctioned discrimination that Jesus said, “Love your enemy.” It was to people who knew the burden of oppressive politics that Paul wrote, “Do good to those who hate you.” It was to disciples hiding in secret rooms with locked doors that Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” None of these aspirations was easy to achieve then, and none is easy to realize today. 

 

So, how are you doing in the midst of all of this? 

 

Dr. King, also facing a government that practiced and protected discrimination, once cautioned that taking an eye for an eye simply leaves two people blind. The harder path, the narrower path, the path that is often untaken, is to overcome evil with good, to overcome falsehood with truth, and to overcome hate with love. Any attempt at discipleship without this precise kind of costliness is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer so poignantly called “cheap grace.” The grace of discipleship is “costly grace,” and it is a path that turns from being outraged to being engaged when violence and injustice take place. But Christian engagement in issues that have been politicized is different from politics in general. We do not choose between love or justice, because we trust that the God of love is also the God of justice and, in God, they are one. 

 

So, how are you doing in the midst of all of this? What can we, who aspire to take up the cross, do in such a time as this? 

 

Next week, I will offer some starting points, but I want your input as well. I invite you to send me your strategies and avenues of engagement, that I can post in forthcoming Friday newsletters. Send it here. I will benefit from your wisdom as we pursue this path of love and justice together. 

 

Mark of St. Mark 

 

 

Playground and Serving Children

 Friends, 

I have some exciting news to share about our St. Mark Community Preschool. This week the new school year began with a brand-new playground! This playground seemed to appear overnight, but of course it took a lot of hard work and planning. A “Playground Committee,” has been planning this work, selecting the equip
ment, scheduling the destruction and removal of the old equipment and the installation of the new. It was no small feat, and all the removing and installation took place in between the end of the Summer School and the beginning of our Fall Semester. 

 

The Playground Committee has been composed of Preschool parents Michael Manning, Ameen Lalani, Novelle Shakeel-Campoli, Lisa Barrymore, and Mark Rogerson; with our Preschool Assistant Director Noemi Carrillo, as well as Kathy Roberts and Greg McCollum, members of our Facilities Commission. We are so thankful for the long hours of perusing catalogs, taking measurements, studying safety features, and calendar planning that enabled this work to be done so well and in such a timely fashion. 

 

There is one more recent addition to the Preschool that you will appreciate. Last month a Patrick’s Purpose Bench was installed, with the hope that no child (or adult) ever feels that they are alone, particularly when life can feel overwhelming. We give thanks for the life of Patrick Turner and the legacy that John and Kim Turner have established in his memory. 

 

We give thanks that St. Mark is able to provide such a stimulating and lovely place for children to learn to love the depth and beauty of God’s world. 

 

Mark of St. Mark

Two Events Forthcoming

 Friends, 

 

There are two things coming soon that I will write about today. 

 

First, the Orange County Pride Parade is scheduled for September 27 at the OC Fairgrounds. The Parade begins at 11:00, followed by a Festival at noon. For the second year, some churches from the Presbytery of Los Ranchos are joining together as “the Affirming Churches of Los Ranchos” for the march. Please consider marching with us. And this year, for the first time, we will have a booth at the Festival. We are trying to dramatically shift the narrative in our country, where too many loud churches call anti-discriminatory practices “woke,” and are pushing agendas to take away the rights of the LGBTQIA community to be legally married or adopt children, not to mention the imposition of discriminatory practices against non-binary and transgender persons. 

 

St. Mark “fought the good fight” many years ago when the State of California was facing “Prop 8” and the PCUSA was facing “Amendment B.” That work is not done. If you are willing to march with or work the booth for the Affirming Churches (or both), please visit this registration page. 

 

Second, the St. Mark worship commission asked me if we could have a “Saturday worship service” on a Sunday, in order to enable the larger congregation to see how the Saturday service expands our worship repertoire. That’s what we will do this weekend. As many of you who have experienced both services know, there are many similarities and some differences between our Saturday and Sunday worship. On Saturday, the “Evening Prayer” is contemplative, a deliberate mixture of music, silence, and words. One key to contemplative worship is that someone can detach from a responsive or unison reading and allow oneself simply to “be” in the moment. Another difference is the musical style, which is sometimes jazz, but better described as more intentionally improvisational on Saturdays. I find improvisation to be one way of participating in God’s activity and creativity in worship, and while it happens in many ways on Sundays, it is more deliberately worked into the music on Saturdays. 

 

The Sunday service has its own creative voice, with excellent organ accompaniment, an excellent choir, a time for the Young Church, a Handbell Ensemble, and some approaches to worship that work more effectively for a larger gathering than a smaller one. What makes us one, even with two services, is that the Scripture, sermon, call to worship, prayers, announcements, and most of the songs are the same on Saturday and Sunday. The presentation is different, but the core identity and message are the same. 

 

When we first studied and decided to initiate the Saturday service, I invited Rich Messenger, who was our Music Director at the time, to be as much a part of it as he wanted. Rich said that he thought it would be better to use his talents on Sunday and to let Saturday take on its own worship personality. One thing I committed to was not to try to build up the Saturday service at the expense of the Sunday service. That is one reason why I often may refer to both services, but try to err on the side of not promoting one at the expense of the other. I cannot tell you how deeply I appreciate both the Saturday and the Sunday worship services – the people, the music, the style, the repertoire, and especially the different ways that the Holy Spirit works in each. 

 

So, this Sunday, we’ll have “Saturday on Sunday.” It seemed like a good weekend to do so, since we have ended “The Well” and the choir will reboot the first Sunday of September. 

 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

Winding Down and Gearing Up

 Friends, 

 

Thank you all for the warm reception that you gave our guest preacher Kathy Kipp, as well as her family and friends who were visiting, last weekend. Back when I was interviewing here many years ago, one of the references that I contacted said, “St. Mark loves its pastors very well.” That has been true in my experience, and it seems to be true for guest preachers also. Thanks again.

 

This weekend is full of good. On Saturday is our Meet Me at Muldoon’s following worship. Come worship, come listen, come eat, come dance … just come! And, Sunday, we have three things for you. At 8:30 the Lectio Divina group will meet in the Conference Room of the Administration Building. Then, this is the last Summer Choir opportunity. If you show up at 8:30 promptly, you’ll be all ready to lead worship by 9:30. Our Choir Director, Ryan Yoder, is kind of magical like that. And finally, on Sunday, our older children will leave for Eco Club after our Young Church time. As I said, this weekend is full of good. 

 

Then, next Sunday, August 31, we will have a unique worship experience. You’ll love it. (That’s a teaser, folks!) 

 

Now, to gear up for our post-summer church life. I hope you’ve been reading the Faith in Action weeklies, and marking your calendars. You’ve got our “Text Study” series that begins the first week of September on your calendar, right? And the Choir Retreat for September 6^th, followed by the All Church Picnic for September 7? Then, on Monday, September 8, St. Mark has invited the Presbytery of Los Ranchos to join us in a four-week online study of the book, Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor, from 7:00 – 7:45. Please contact SueJeanne Koh If you have questions. My goodness, the good just keeps on happening. 

 

And there are other things happening in our area among our ministry partners in Orange County. 

-              On Saturday, September 6, the Orange County United Way is having a “kickoff walk” from 8:00 - 9:30am to introduce a new community-wide, 5-year plan to serve Orange County together. A two-mile walk is planned for each of the 34 cities of Orange County. Click here for more information and to register.  

-              On Thursday, September 18, the Presbytery of Los Ranchos will host Rev. CeCe Armstrong and Rev. Tony Larsen as guests. They will also lead the Presbytery worship service at 7:00 PM, at Orange Canaan Presbyterian Church (right across the street from Glenn Martin Elementary!) Click here for more information. 

-              The OC Pride Parade and Festival will take place September 27 at the OC Fairgrounds. St. Mark is joining several other churches in the presbytery to enter the parade. If you would like to be part of the planning, please contact me here and I will send you a zoom link for a planning meeting, Monday, August 25, at 7:00 PM. 

-                

So much good to do – good things, good trouble, and good work. 

 

Be blessed,

Mark of St. Mark

 Friends, 

 

Last Sunday, we baptized a baby as an act of initiation and welcome into the church. Tomorrow, we will have a memorial for a long-time member and usher here at St. Mark. Between the baby's age, measured in months, and the member's 95 years, we can see the span of what a baptismal journey looks like. So, let’s talk about baptism for a moment. 

 

One of the things that I loved most dearly when leaving my Pentecostal Holiness roots and joining the Presbyterian Church was the practice of infant baptism. To be sure, Presbyterians baptize confirmands and adults when appropriate, and do so joyfully. But infant baptism was a strange thing to me, growing up in a church that exclusively practiced “believer’s baptism.” We would ask, “How do we know this baby will grow up and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?” We would wonder if those crazy Presbyterians (Lutherans, Catholics, and other hydrophobic types) imagined there was some kind of magic quality to the water or the ritual, that would affect the baby’s future life. We heard stories of parents whose children were born with life-threatening challenges, frantically searching for a chaplain who could come and baptize the baby to ensure that it could go to heaven. (I remember being taught that the thief on the cross wasn’t baptized, but Jesus assured him he would be in heaven.) Baptizing a child seemed a strange thing when growing up in a tradition that put all of its eggs in the “come to Jesus” basket. 

 

Then, I actually talked to Presbyterians. The water was not magic; neither was the ritual. The baptized infant would – at least this was the intended process – grow up in the church, surrounded by those who had participated in the baptism (never a private event for Presbyterians!), taught in Sunday School, held in prayers, greeted by name even by those whom the child thought was just another ancient person, loved by the community, and one day offered a chance to study and confirm the vows that were made on their behalf when they were infants. And the reason for this process was key: Long before we are capable or willing to confess our faith, God’s grace is present. If Presbyterian theology can be boiled down to anything it is this: God goes first. God’s love is not contingent on our love, God’s grace is not a response to our faith, God is not waiting for us to make the first move. That’s what infant baptism means most of all, and it is exactly why I fell in love with the practice. Even knowing that most biblical narratives about baptism involve adults, it struck me as more biblical than anything else to see baptism as a declaration of God’s grace, not a sign of our decision-making. 

 

Many of us did not grow up in traditions that baptize infants. Still, it is true about our journeys that God’s grace was there all along, and long before we had any say in the matter. I was declared a beloved child of God without any say in the matter, just like I was named Donald Mark without my consent. Whether we are months old or almost a century old, what graces our lives from beginning to end is God’s love. That’s why I have always gravitated toward the song that says, “When we are living, it is in Christ Jesus. And when we’re dying, it is in the Lord. Both in our living and in our dying, we belong to God.” 

 

Amen. 

Mark of St. Mark 

Quick Things of Beauty

 Friends, 

I have two things to share with you today. 

 

First, throughout this month for our Sunday morning Introit, the St. Mark Quartet has been singing a beautiful song by Eric Whitacre entitled, Sing Gently. In 2020, 17,572 singers from 129 countries gathered virtually to sing the song, including our own Carissa Huntting and Emilio Lópex Felix. The recordings were captured and compiled into a stunning YouTube video that you can find here. It is mesmerizing and a lovely way to lose oneself a time of holy reverie, just as the song intends. We had every intention to show the video this weekend in worship, but due to copyright restrictions we are unable to embed it into our keynote presentations. Instead, I strongly urge you to take the time to listen, watch, and let your heart be lifted up by watching this video. 

 

Finally, I have been out of pocket this week, enjoying a time of study leave surrounded by the beauty of the Eastern Sierras in Mammoth. Since it is not skiing season, I have been spending the mornings writing, and the late afternoons taking hikes, riding a gondola to the highest peak, walking around lakes, and getting lost in wonder. Wow, talk about mesmerizing and a lovely way to lose oneself! I look forward to returning on Saturday morning and seeing you all in worship this weekend. In addition to the weekly joy of worship, we have our monthly “Meet me at Muldoon’s” on Saturday evening, a baptism on Sunday, and SueJeanne Koh bringing our message. 

 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

 

IRS Ruling, pt. 2

 Friends, 

 

I wrote some reflections last week on the new IRS ruling allowing churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit without endangering their tax exemption status. That particular ruling is narrowly focused on churches, not all 501c3 organizations. It has been framed as a “free speech” matter, but I suspect there is more to it than that. For example, in this ABC news report, Ellen Aprill, a professor emerita of tax law at Loyola Marymount University Law School, says the new regulation could open the door to political campaigns channeling money through churches to take advantage of their tax-exempt status and lower application and reporting requirements. Aprill even expressed concern that this new ruling “will encourage the creation of fraudulent churches who want to be able to get tax deductible money to engage in opposing or supporting candidates … so they don't have to disclose any other campaign intervention activities.”  

 

When I was the chair of The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa (TIAI), I sat down at a meeting with Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who at that time was the chair of the National Democratic Party. The Christian Coalition was in full swing at that time, and TIAI was begun when a long-time school board member was outed and ousted from office by Christian conservatives for being gay. Because TIAI strongly opposed discrimination based on sexual orientation and tried to change the rhetoric in the public square from addressing queer persons with demeaning language, one Des Moines Register opinion columnist consistently referred to TIAI as “the Christian Coalition of the Left.” We did not like that depiction, but apparently, Congresswoman Schultz thought that was accurate and arranged this meeting to urge us to use our churches, synagogues, and mosques to support a particular Democratic slate of candidates. We responded, “While we may personally support these candidates and agree with all of your reasons for doing so, we will not endorse any candidate from the pulpit, nor will we encourage other houses of worship to do so.” The meeting closed pretty quickly.  

 

The line between “politics and justice” or “politics and faithfulness” will always be gray, malleable, and debatable. The Des Moines Register opinion writer did not appreciate that gray area, supposing that any faith group that was in solidarity with gay and lesbian persons was taking a “political” position. Likewise, the writers of Project 2025 tried to establish a rhetoric that attempts to ensure Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) are purely political and should be condemned as “woke.” More accurately, a Christian perspective can argue that Diversity, if you look at the expanse of creation, is part of God’s very design; Equity, if you look at biblical laws regarding access to food and shelter, is a moral imperative; and Inclusion, if you look at Jesus’ table manners, is a Christian value. How to establish diversity, equity, and inclusion is an ongoing conversation with many valid perspectives, but simply dismissing D.E.I. efforts generally as “woke” is politically and religiously cynical. 

 

The Presbyterian Church (USA) should strive to be faithful in reflecting God’s diversity, pursuing equity, and practicing inclusion. But we cannot do so by wagging our fingers at others. As we proclaim truth, we must likewise confess our failures and complicities in discriminatory practices. As I pointed out in my sermon last week, the list that our Book of Order says should be protected from discrimination is long, because the list of groups who have suffered discrimination in our church’s history is long. Ironically, the only way a church can exercise a courageous, prophetic voice for justice is by starting with auditing our own failures with fear and trembling. That’s how the paradox of gaining life by losing it, being first by being last, or following Christ by taking up the cross works. 

 

Churches automatically qualify for tax exemption and do not have to file 990 forms disclosing the kind of financial information that other 501 c3 organizations do. Because political donations have been identified lately as exercises of free speech, I share Ellen Aprill’s concerns that the new IRS ruling will not only embolden preachers to explicitly endorse candidates but also allow churches to become unaccountable privileged channels for campaign finances. And we all know that money can be as ruinous and compromising for houses of faith as it is for politics. May God guide us into better light.

 

Mark of St. Mark

The IRS New Ruling

 Friends, 

The IRS issued a ruling this week that allows churches to endorse candidates for political office, without endangering their tax-exempt status. It seems to me that some churches have been openly endorsing candidates, parties, policies, or issuing “voter guides” for quite some time, and the IRS has largely turned a blind eye. 

 

Today I want to offer a few personal perspectives on this new ruling issued by the IRS. I do not feel that being the pastor who preaches regularly at St. Mark puts me in any position of authority to speak to this issue. Rather, I feel that being the pastor who preaches regularly at St. Mark obligates me to clarify my own approach to an issue that can have many valid perspectives. Here goes.

 

1. When we have a stewardship drive or call for the offering, we never appeal to tax advantages. We speak of our “debt of gratitude,” and begin with the claim that the earth and everything in it belongs to God. It seems crass to appeal to making an offering to God as a matter of economic advantage. Still, that deduction is something that we all take for granted. My guess is that tax advantages is a part of the equation in church giving, but I have no idea how significant it is and I hope it is quite small.   

 

2. Someone who is called to preach the Word of God needs to ask theological questions, moderating their words by what God requires far more than a fear of losing their tax exemption. There are theological reasons for preachers to observe the difference between the Christian message and a partisan political stance and here are a few that shape the way I try to speak the Word of God, even when it involves issues that have been politicized: 

 

- “God alone is Lord of the conscience,” which sets the individual conscience free from the dictates of any religious or secular authority.

- “The Christian conscience is captive to the Word of God” – remember Repentance means “change the way you think about everything!” 

- “Sin is radical and universal” – radical in the sense that there is no aspect of our being that is unaffected by it, including our opinions; universal in the sense that no religious or political opinion is exempt from the taint of sin. 

- “We are the church reformed, always being reformed,” by which we mean the living God whose Spirit is among us is ever at work transforming our hearts, renewing our minds, and challenging us with the possibilities of new life. 

- “The church is a prophetic community,” which is my own summation of how Presbyterians view the story of the Day of Pentecost and its meaning for us today. That story takes the power of prophecy, the call to speak truth to power, and pours it out on all the people of God. 

- In addition to worship and fellowship, the church of Jesus Christ is called to peacemaking, the right administration of justice, liberative preference for the poor, caring for creation, upholding the dignity and value of all persons, and demanding accountability of those in leadership, among other things. In order for these commitments to be more than just pious rhetoric, they require study, encouragement, organization, advocacy, and action.

- When we proclaim the Living God, who loves “the world,” and for whom justice matters, we cannot reduce the gospel to what Jesus did once upon a time or reduce salvation to a purely personal matter. A living God is far more disruptive of our ways than that. 

 

3. In “the separation of church and state,” the line of demarcation between church and state is always elusive. Is something like ‘advocating for immigration justice’ an act of Christian conscience or is it ‘political’? If an issue of justice is politicized, how do we speak to it as an issue of justice and escape the claim that we’re being political? 

 

I don’t think it is possible for the church to be squeaky clean in separating matters of justice from matters of politics, when the purpose of politics is to ensure justice. So, when it comes to what we proclaim, it seems to me that the issue of tax exemption should matter much less to us than keeping our theological convictions. 

 

That’s me just thinking aloud this morning,

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

Bread for the World

Friends, 

Happy 4^th of July. Today I will find time to honor my annual habit of reading Frederick Douglass’ astounding reflection, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” You can watch a powerful recitation of that speech by Douglass’ great-great-great-great grandchildren here. It will be time well spent and that speech continues to offer prophetic power. 

 

Speaking of offering prophetic power, on the weekend of June 1 we commissioned one of our youth, Collette Anderson, and one of our deacons, Angie Vazirian, to attend a Bread for the World conference. Here is Collette’s response and report of that event for us. Wow, she speaks truth. 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2025 Bread for The World Advocacy Summit. Bread for the World is a bipartisan Christian organization with a focus on solving world hunger. In times like these making your voice heard is very important and this summit allowed me to do so. I met so many incredible people and learned so much about advocacy and the right ways to do it. Having meetings on the hill and knowing that I am doing everything I can to make a difference is such a great feeling. This experience taught me so much about the importance of the voice of the people. It was inspiring to see so many people of all ages coming together for such a great cause. Everyone I met was so driven and had such an amazing heart. On the last day of the summit, we had meetings in the offices of our representatives on Capitol Hill. Some people met with the representatives themselves, in my case, I met with the staffers. We approached the meetings with the “ask” of protecting SNAP, WIC, and international food aid programs. My representatives have all been openly and loudly supportive of these programs so our focus was on asking how they were planning on getting the support of their colleagues across the aisle. Meetings like these are important because they give the representatives stories to sway their colleagues. I was told that by speaking to representatives with your same opinion you are “arming members with an arsenal of anecdotes”. It is also very impactful to send your representatives emails and letters and call their offices directly.

 

If there's ANY form of legislation or policy you are passionate about, reach out to your representatives. Your voice is important, now more than ever. There are so many issues in need of addressing and anything you care about is worth expressing. Whether it be by email, physical letter or even scheduling a meeting with their office make your voice heard. This summit specifically focused on urging representatives against passing the Big Beautiful Bill which will cause $290 billion in budget cuts over the next 10 years. So although there are other concerns I would have liked to address as well, we focused specifically on this bill. As an organization voicing concerns for world hunger, we focused on the issues that the bill will cause on people who rely on programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) as well as international hunger aid programs. SNAP is a federal program that provides financial assistance to low-income individuals and families to purchase food. It operates through an Electronic Benefit Transfer card, which can be used at authorized retailers to buy food items. WIC is a federally funded program that provides supplemental food, nutrition education, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, as well as infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. These programs are relied on by over 45 million Americans and are a large part of solving the hunger problem in the U.S. The budget cuts in this bill will strip millions of families of this support leaving them hungry. If this is something you are passionate about you can use this link to send a pre-written email to your representatives that can be modified in any way to fit your specific views or any personal stories.https://go.bread.org/page/82476/action/1?locale=en-, You can use this link to contact your senators about any matter important to you: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm US No matter what it is you are passionate about and no matter what your opinion is I strongly urge you to reach out to your representatives because your voice can and will make a difference. Advocacy is important. There is no way for a representative to know what the people want unless we tell them. We are the people.

 

Collette Anderson

Pentecostal Mystery

 Friends, 

Today I present a Pentecost poem, written by St. Mark member Don Beard, a man of many passions and artistic talents. Enjoy.

 

Today

Is Not the Tomorrow

My Yesterday Self

Dreamed OF

Hunger Still Exists So Needlessly.

Lives and Livelihoods Are Still Destroyed by Greed and Wars.

Loving Our Neighbors and One Another

Is Not as Inclusive as it Ought to Be.

Such Truths as These and Others not Listed

Continue to Remind Me

That Today

Is Not the Tomorrow 
My Yesterday Self Dreamed Of

But then I Remember the Pentecostal Mystery

Of How God Brough His People Together

To Speak and Understand a Though With One Voice.

Reminding Us That It Is in Our Togetherness

That We Too Can Be Part of the One Voice

Proclaiming The Power and The Promise of The Resurrection.

My Hope and Prayer for the Here And Now

Is That Someday, Hopefully Not Too Far Away,

By Continuing to Use Our God Given Skills and Talents

Along With Our Combined Voices,

That We Will One Day Be Able To Say,

Today 
Is the Tomorrow 
Our Yesterday Selves

Dreamed Of

 

 

Mark of St. Mark

The Disruptive Holy Spirit

Friends, 

 

I took a break from my Pentecost theme last week to honor Holmes Rolston III and Walter Brueggemann of blessed memory. Now, back to the theme. 

 

I want to talk about the discomfort and disruption that the Holy Spirit often brings in her wake. First, let me nerd out for a second about the term “Holy Spirit.” The Greek term for Spirit is πνεῦμα. As you may know, in Greek – as in many other languages – nouns are often identified as either masculine, feminine, or neuter, and πνεῦμα is neuter. So, if one wants to select a pronoun, one can go with “him,” “her,” or “it.” Translations rarely choose “it” when referring to the Holy Spirit, because Christian doctrine considers the Holy Spirit to be the “third person” of the trinity, and “it” is impersonal, usually referring a thing. I prefer to speak of the Holy Spirit with the pronouns she/her for a couple of reasons. First, I should confess, I like how it catches people off guard and makes them ask questions. But, more importantly, some of the related terms to πνεῦμα are specifically female nouns, such as πνοή, that mighty rushing wind/breath that entered the house on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). In addition, the Holy Spirit is often described in ways that “Wisdom” is described in the Hebrew Bible, and the term in Hebrew, as well as its Greek counterpart “Sophia” are also feminine. Proverbs 8 has the most delightful description of Wisdom accompanying God during creation, which the Old Testament scholar Bill Brown says reads like “take your daughter to work day”: “then I was beside [God], like a master worker, and I was daily his delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” That is Wisdom speaking, a participant in God’s act of creation. 

 

In addition to the arguable femininity of the term, the word πνεῦμα has a wide array of meanings. It can mean “spirit” as in a human spirit or God’s spirit. It can also mean “breath” or “wind.” When translations speak of the sound of ‘a rushing mighty wind’ entering the room (Acts 2:2), then says they were all filled with the “Holy Spirit” (2:4), we are receiving their best interpretations. Verse 2 could read, “rushing mighty breath” or “rushing mighty spirit.” Verse 4 could read that they were all filled with “the holy breath,” which sounds like the creation story in Genesis 2, or “the holy wind” (although that sounds odd). And the capitalization of “Holy Spirit” instead of “holy spirit” is entirely a judgment call., as is the King James Bible’s phrase “Holy Ghost,” using “ghost” instead of “spirit” for πνεῦμα.

 

What is more important about the Holy Spirit is how disruptive she is. As we heard last weekend, religions are inherently enculturated. They are typically birthed in a particular culture, with particular views of the world, particular languages, and particular authoritative figureheads. And while they may grow and extend beyond the original culture, they tend to privilege certain aspect of their history. Think of how a religious book might describe a war, with God clearly on one side and not the other. Think of how some 21^st century Roman Catholics argue mightily for bringing back the “Latin Mass” that was ended with the Second Vatican Council, even if they don’t understand a word of it. Think about how a classical piece of music, even it is titled Etude in d minor is considered “sacred music,” while “What a Wonderful World” is considered “secular.” It’s not a criticism, but an observation that religions tend to take on a particular culture, sometimes declaring a language to be more sacred than others, and so on. 

 

With that in mind, look at the disruption the Holy Spirit causes on Pentecost! Suddenly every language becomes a medium for declaring the mighty works of God. Every language, hence, every culture. The language of friends; the language of enemies. The language of the educated; the language of barbarians (seriously, “Cretans” are mentioned in the story!) After the litany of cultural identities present, the story says, “in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” The Holy Spirit tramples on the unspoken rule of religion by bypassing the presumed privilege of culture and language by making God’s story accessible to everyone. Jesus once likened her to “the wind (pneuma) which blows where it will.” That Holy Spirit, she does what she does!

 

It seems that the church has been trying to shove the Holy Spirit back into proper cultural, linguistic, and theological boxes ever since the Day of Pentecost. Our faithfulness lies in setting her free and trying to keep up! 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

  

In Life and in Death, We Belong to God

This past week, two significant figures in the Christian academic world died, both at 92 years old. Holmes Rolston III and Walter Brueggemann had very different, long, and influential careers, for which I want to give thanks today. 

 

From Union Presbyterian Seminary, where I attended, is this writeup about Holmes Rolston: “Rolston has been a part of the UPSem story for decades. Born November 19, 1932, in Staunton, Virginia, Rolston was raised in a family deeply rooted in Presbyterian ministry. After earning a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Davidson College in 1953, he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by enrolling at Union Theological Seminary (VA), where he received a Bachelor of Divinity in 1956. His wife, Jane Wilson Rolston, earned an M.A. from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1955. Rolston went on to complete a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh (1958), and an M.A. in the philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh (1968).

 

Rolston is widely considered the 'Father of Environmental Ethics' for his work in recognizing the intersections between nature, religion, philosophy, and ethics. In addition to teaching for over 40 years at Colorado State University, Dr. Rolston published multiple works, including Philosophy Gone Wild (1986), Environmental Ethics: Values in and Duties to the Natural World (1988), Conserving Natural Value (1994), Genes, Genesis, and God(1999), Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Life, and Mind (2010) and A New Environmental Ethics (2012, 2020). His argument that nature possesses intrinsic value beyond human utility reshaped environmental philosophy and religious thought alike. His work served as a moral compass in an age of ecological crisis, offering a framework in which care for creation is not only a scientific necessity but also a sacred duty.”

 

Walter Brueggemann was one of the most influential biblical scholars of our time, for me and for a large host of students of the Bible. He retired as a Professor Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, GA, after a widely published and sought out career as a preacher and teacher. I will share a prayer he wrote called, “On Controlling Our Borders.” 

 

“Jesus – crucified and risen – draws us into his presence again, the one who had nowhere to lay his head, no safe place, no secure home, no passport or visa, no certified citizenship.

We gather around him in our safety, security, and well-being, and fret about ‘illegal immigrants.’ We fret because they are not like us and refuse our language. We worry that there are so many of them and their crossings do not stop. We are unsettled because it is our tax dollars that sustain them and provide services. We feel the hype about closing borders and heavy fines, because we imagine that our life is under threat.

 

And yet, as you know very well, we, all of us – early or late – are immigrants from elsewhere; we are glad for cheap labor and seasonal workers, who do tomatoes and apples and oranges to our savoring delight. And beyond that, even while we are beset by fears and aware of pragmatic costs, we know very well that you are the God who welcomes strangers, who loves aliens and protects sojourners.

 

As always, we feel the tension and the slippage between the deep truth of our faith and the easier settlements of our society.

 

We do not ask for an easy way out, but for courage and honesty and faithfulness. Give us ease in the presence of those unlike us; give us generosity amid demands of those in need, help us to honor those who trespass as you forgive our trespasses.

 

You are the God of all forgiveness. By your gracious forgiveness transpose us into agents of your will, that our habits and inclinations may more closely follow your majestic lead, that our lives may joyously conform to your vision of a new world.

We pray in the name of your holy Son, even Jesus." 

Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann, Abingdon Press, ©2008

 

In life and in death, we belong to God.

 

Mark of St. Mark

Pentecost and Zeal

I want to repeat my comment from last week that we Presbyterians do ourselves a disservice by leaving Pentecost to Pentecostals. When I was being examined for ordination by the East Iowa Presbytery thirty years ago, most of the questions were concerned about my Pentecostal upbringing and whether I would try to impose Pentecostalism onto the congregations I served. I understood where the concerns were coming from and actually shared many of them. At the same time, I didn’t want to throw the story of the Day of Pentecost under the bus in order to demonstrate that I was a safe candidate. Growing up Pentecostal offered me a host of positive experiences, along with negative experiences that I’ve been trying to work through spiritually and theologically during my adulthood. I will save the negative experiences for a memoir or a comedy routine at a later time, but some of the positive experiences may surprise someone unaccustomed to the tradition: Women preachers (not pastors, but preachers) were common; we called one another “brother” or “sister” instead of “Mr., Mrs. Miss, or even Rev.”; men were unafraid to hug one another, even before the “bro hug” became a thing; and within the Christian life there was an expectation of zeal. Today I want to think about what it means to honor zeal as an important and valuable part of the Christian experience. 

 

First, the necessary caveat. Zeal comes in many forms, some of them awful. Unbridled zeal has often led to a fanatic willingness to commit atrocities in the name of some supposed commitment to a greater end. Zeal blurs the lines between sacrificing oneself and sacrificing another. Zeal often makes us unreasonable, unable or unwilling to see things from another perspective. Zeal justifies bombing villages, driving a truck into a crowd, conversion therapy, banning books, or declaring war. Just as emotions can often seem antithetical to reason, zeal can often seem antithetical to basic human decency. So, zeal rightly takes on a very negative connotation in many cases. 

 

Still, there is a lot to be said for zeal, enthusiasm, ardor, and an “all-in” level of commitment. Dr. King’s zeal for justice and human rights is what drove his feet to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, despite the dangers that awaited him on the other side. Jesus’ zeal for God’s house is what compelled him to turn over tables and drive money-changers out of the temple. Any commitment to justice, peacemaking, inclusivity, or transformation that lacks zeal tends to flame out, because there are so many barriers that one needs the energy to push through. That might be a great definition of zeal: The energy to push through, especially when the initial euphoria has worn away. The word “zeal” brings to mind exclamation points, loud voices, adamant stances, and the like, but true zeal is often a matter of showing up, faithfully, time and time again. 

 

As zeal pertains to worship, the Presbyterian Book of Order has long described worship as containing both “order” and “ardor.” The wisdom of our tradition says order and ardor are not antithetical to one another, rather, they enhance each other. The “order” ensures that our zeal does not descend into fanaticism but is ever held accountable to other forms of God’s wisdom and grace. That’s how we ensure that our Pentecostal fire does not become wildfire, destroying everything in its wake. The “ardor” ensures that our propriety does not reduce our worship to rote, lifeless pronouncements that don’t recognize the presence of the living God right there with us whenever we gather. It is the Pentecost fire that stokes the engine to life, at times in a flash and at other times in a constant heat. 

 

I so appreciate those of you who show up again and again, ready to serve, ready to worship, and ready to lift one another up. That, to me, is the constant heat that the fire of Pentecost brings, which enables the church to be the church through thick and thin. I also appreciate those of you who “get fired up,” whether you express it by clapping or nodding or saying “amen” during worship, or by jumping in and making sure that we do what justice calls us to do. The fire of Pentecost is what keeps us writing that letter, making that call, marching that march, and telling that truth. 

 

So, while wearing red may feel a bit gimmicky, it will be a reminder to us that we are empowered, enflamed, energized by God’s own Spirit. What a beautiful gift that is. 

 

Mark of St. Mark