What to the Christian is the Fourth of July?

 

Friends, 

 

This weekend will be quite the celebration throughout the US. It is not my intention to be a wet blanket, but I must confess my ambiguity over the 250^th birthday of the US’s declaration of Independence from Great Britain. A few years ago, on the weekend of Independence Day, I spoke about Frederick Douglass’ astounding reflection, “What, to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” After worship it turned out that one of Douglass’ descendants was visiting with us and he thanked me for it. Since that time, I have made it a discipline to read it annually. Again, it is not for the purpose of being a killjoy, but because a key part of the Christian journey is to be committed to truth, especially when it is easier to be swept up with enthusiasm. 

 

When Douglass asked what the Fourth of July meant to a slave, he leaned on the important issue of perspective in our observance. The irony of an enslaved person hearing their owners and taskmasters celebrating independence is thick. It is part of the enduring power of sin that those who are set free easily become oppressors. It was a temptation that God addressed repeatedly when the People of Israel were entering the Promised Land. In the words that will be part of our focus for the month of July, God says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5).  Then God commands the people to bind those words on their hearts and their heads – making it both part of their thinking and their feeling. Then, comes this warning: “When the LORD your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors … and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” For the next four chapters, God recounts the ways that God had been faithful in bringing the people through the wilderness to the good land, and how they had repeatedly put God to the test. Now, the challenge would not be their scarcity and fear, but their abundance and forgetfulness. 

 

“Remembering” is not just a sweet feeling in the heart. It has ethical teeth, such as when God says, “You shall also love the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19). God was not being a wet blanket, but was urging them to see their prosperity as “blessings” – gifts to be received with thanks and shared with joy. 

 

So, to paraphrase Mr. Douglass, “What to the Christian is the Fourth of July?” It is certainly a cause for celebration. It is a time to be thankful that we have freedom of expression and can practice faith without restraints from the state or an “official” religious body. It is a time when we can look around us and see the diversity of cultures, languages, histories, and journeys that gather in the US as a bouquet of beauty. There is much to celebrate. But there is much to remember. 

 

We remember the displacement and massacre of Native Americans, sanctioned in part by the “Doctrine of Discovery,” whereby the church blessed taking land, forcing migrations, coercing conversions, and sanctioning executions.  We remember how, in 1619, the first African slave ships came to Comfort Point, off the coast of my hometown of Hampton, VA, starting a three-centuries-long practice of slavery that was supported by the “founding fathers” and given license by the church. We remember the “Trail of Tears.” We remember the appropriation of lands that were once considered part of Mexico and are now the hotspots of immigration enforcement. We remember the era of Jim Crow laws that tried to institutionalize separation based on racial identity. We remember segregated schools, water fountains, and the lynching tree. We remember the exploitation and oppression of Chinese railroad workers. We remember Japanese internment camps. We remember exceptions to workplace and minimum wage standards when applied to farmworkers. We remember the Tulsa massacre. We remember Stonewall Inn and The Pulse Nightclub shootings. We remember neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville and repeated school shootings. We remember George Floyd and the cloud of witnesses victimized for being black. Rather than trying to erase these hard truths about the American story, we should teach them to our children, bind them on our head and heart, to remember in hopes of achieving “Never again.” 

 

What, to the Christian, is the Fourth of July? Unlike the triumphalistic “will to power” that is espoused by so many Christian Nationalists, this weekend calls us to two things. It is a time to celebrate what is good and noble; and to remember what is difficult but still true about our nation’s brief history. Remembering our ambiguous history is the key to living into a future of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly before our God. 

 

Mark of St. Mark 

World Refugee Day

 Friends, 

 

Tomorrow, June 20, is “World Refugee Day,” an international day designated by the United Nations to honor people who have been forced to flee their native home due to conflict or persecution. 

 

Consider the precarious nature of a refugee. Our history has shaped us so that much of our identity lies in the nation-state of our birth. Upon birth, we get “birth certificates” – official papers distributed by the state. We have “citizenship,” with all the consequent rights and protections, based on where we live. We apply for “passports” that offer us recognition as we travel abroad. Simply telling someone that we are “American,” or “Indonesian,” elicits presumptions about what we might be like, simply because of that identity. 

 

A refugee is someone for whom that system of protection and identity has broken down. Last week, Kate Forer told us the story of how her family came to the US fleeing the Armenian genocide. After worship, I heard from several folks who had similar stories in their families – refugees who made their way to the US often with little more than hope to survive; refugees who arrived utterly dependent on a different country to recognize them, welcome them in some way, and to permit them to make a new life here. Since their “Civil Rights” have been taken away, the question becomes whether other countries would honor their “Human Rights.”  

 

Being a refugee is one kind of challenge; responding to refugees is another. When the People of Israel left Egypt, they were landless, so everywhere they went posed a danger. If they passed a field of wild oats, could they harvest some for themselves, or would local folks consider that robbery? If they encountered a spring of fresh water, could they fill their water skins without being attacked? The stories of God providing manna from heaven and water from a rock are specifically tied to that period when the people of Israel were in between a situation in Egypt that they could bear no longer and their own land with their own fields and cisterns. The first challenge they faced was survival, and God provided for them. 

The second challenge was equally difficult. It was the challenge of forgetfulness. As they were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God warned them, “When you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). “Forgetting the Lord” is an ethical and spiritual challenge for secure folks. When God commanded the people to leave the edges of their fields unharvested for the sake of the widows, orphans, and aliens, that command was always punctuated, with the reminder, “For you were once aliens in a foreign land.” 

 

Much of the “Christian Nation” mythology that many advocate today mishandles remembering. When God commanded the People of Israel to remember, it was not “Remember you are special, not them.” It was “Remember, I blessed you, so you bless them.” World Refugee Day invites us to remember that when a people’s identity and consequent civil rights are broken, we still honor their inherent identity and human rights as God’s children. 

 

So, allow me to make a plea. Since seeking refuge is a subset of immigration more broadly, I want to invite you to consider joining our October 2-4 trip to the US/Mexico border. We need informed and compassionate voices in our public conversation about immigration, and this trip offers us a way to join that conversation more fruitfully. You can find information here. And if you are interested in being part of the trip, I need to know by July 12, so please send me a note here. And please note that the Mission Commission has set aside money for anyone who is interested but would welcome financial assistance. I cannot think of a better way for us to observe World Refugee Day than to commit to learning more about the challenges facing those at our own borders. 

 

See you in worship, 

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

Women in the Pulpit - an Emphatic "Yes!"

 Friends, 

Last weekend we began our “Living the Great Stories” summer theme with a lot of interest and enthusiasm. This Weekend is going to be full, especially on Sunday with the Blood Drive, the choir’s last anthem and the handbell ensemble’s last offering before their summer breaks. And on both Saturday and Sunday we will see a delightful video that Bridget Duffin put together with the information Pastor Hayes collected, honoring our graduates. And Kate Forer will be preaching on the story of Hagar. It will be marvelous.

 

This week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) met and drilled down into nonsense. Back when I was in college, I served as the Youth Minister at a Southern Baptist Church in Georgia. They were a wonderful congregation and the pastor was a very good mentor for me, since I was an enthusiastic but not particularly wise. During that time, I learned how the SBC worked, as a “cooperative,” where individual church autonomy was respected within the collective work of the larger group (missions, seminaries, etc.). It was a way of organization that many Baptists deeply appreciated. Then came what some called “the Fundamentalist takeover” of the late 1980’s. Seminary professors faced the threat of losing their position if they did not ascribe to a certain, narrow view of biblical inspiration. Individual churches were ousted (in some way, I’m not sure how), because they did not hold to a certain standard of doctrine or practice. As many upset Baptists told me, the church they once loved had become unrecognizable, because of the insistence of a few leading voices. For some time it has been evident that the takeover has succeeded. 

 

The vote this week was to strengthen the SBC’s prohibition on women as church leaders and preachers, voting decisively to add language to its constitution clarifying that its churches do not “affirm, appoint or endorse” women as pastors. And it was not even close. The vote had to be a supermajority (66%) and was closer to 75%. 

 

Honestly, it is hard to believe that this continues to be a matter of conversation, much less that a 75% majority would vote to prohibit women from preaching or serving as pastors. After speaking with a number of delegates, Ruth Graham of the New York Times wrote, “Supporters of the constitutional amendment argued that firmer procedures were necessary, because the acceptance of women pastors often precedes broader theological and cultural shifts to the left, including the acceptance of homosexuality.” As one person put it, “You’re never more than one year away from drift.” 

 

It feels heroic and faithful to draw lines and say, “This side is God’s side; that side is the world’s side.” There are even times when lines should be drawn. It just seems odd to me that gender roles, sexual orientation, and gender identity have become in so many Christian people’s minds the topics on which those lines must be drawn. Jesus spoke so much more about hate, violence, hypocrisy, retribution, and self-righteousness as his topics of great concern. 

 

This year, October 26 will be the 70-year anniversary of when the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery ordained Margaret Towner as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Southern Presbyterians – a separate but sister organization until 1983 – ordained Rachel Henderlite at All Souls Presbyterian Church in 1965. I do not say this as a note of self-congratulations. As early as 1889 the Nolin Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (another sister organization) ordained Louisa Woosley to be a minister, but the Cumberland denominational leadership refused to recognize her ordination. Women’s ordination has been a rocky and strongly deliberated journey for many Christian denominations, and of course the Roman Catholic Church continues to have robust conversations over it. 

 

It’s an interesting thing. Once we accept the ordination of women, of the LGBTQ community, of non-cis-gender persons, and begin to see how powerfully God equips and uses them, it is usually just a small matter of time before we begin asking, “What were we thinking?” And until our siblings are able to see a better light, we repent for all of those persons whose gifts and passions we will not be able to receive. 

 

When we attend worship at St. Mark, we are re-affirming your own commitment to being faithful to the God whose gifts were poured out on “each” and “all” on the day of Pentecost. Come, let us worship the God of abundance together.

 

Mark of St. Mark

Summer Series at St. Mark

Friends, 

 

And just like that, the summer months are upon us. Congratulations to those who have completed a year or an entire course of study. Congratulations to those who are getting a well-deserved break. Congratulations to those who continue to work but are taking some time off for rest and restoration. Everybody needs Sabbath rest, and there’s just something about the rhythm of summer that is delightfully different. 

 

The Rhythm of our church life is also different during the summer. Many of our commissions will take at least one month off from their usual meetings. Sunday School teachers have a break until mid-September. The choir will take a well-deserved break from June 14 until after Labor Day. And we will have a specific theme of Intergenerational worship that begins this week. I am pretty excited about it and I think you will be also.

 

We will also spend the summer exploring ways to invite children into worship more fruitfully. Starting on June 20, we will have two tables in “The Well” where children in kindergarten through 3^rd grade are welcome to come and find quiet ways to (let’s be honest here) … endure the sermon on Saturdays and Sundays. On Sunday mornings, children younger than kindergarten age are welcome to go to the nursery throughout the summer. And children and Youth are encouraged to participate in worship in various ways. They will have opportunities to work with our ushers and greeters; lead parts of our liturgy; help serve communion alongside of our elders; and occasionally help with an interactive way of telling the biblical story. (We’ll start that this week!) 

 

We will hear a lot of songs this summer that are less complicated, easier to sing, and sometime repetitive, so the younger portion of the church will have a better chance of joining in. We’ll also repeat some songs from week to week, in order to help each other build a repertoire of good music. We are aiming for simpler, more inviting ways to say important and meaningful things. It’s all part of being an inclusive church and a bit of a learning curve for those of us who plan worship. 

 

Our summer theme is “Living the Great Stories.” We will visit and revisit many of the great stories from the Old Testament, some of which will be very familiar to you, some less so, but all of them have great meaning that we will explore together. And for each month, we will have a key scripture text, which we will call a “lifeline,” that will express who we are called to be as the body of Christ. 

 

For June, our Key Scripture is Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” We will express that Key Scripture through songs and liturgy, as we will explore stories about Manna, Hagar, Balaam’s Donkey, and David and Goliath. So, for example, our closing song throughout the month of June will have the lyrics, “When you walk from here, when you walk from here: Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care. 

 

What a wonderful aspiration for all of us to hold as we enter these summer months.

 

See you in worship, 

Mark of St. Mark  

PENTECOST!

 It's Pentecost, y'all! Wear Red! 

As many of you know, I was raised in a Pentecostal church, with heavy emphasis on the excitement and power the story in Acts, chapter 2. For many reasons, I stepped away from the Pentecostal church but I continue to find reasons to embrace the story of the Day of Pentecost and discover new meaning in it. 

 

One of the first large decisions one makes in interpreting, embracing, and proclaiming the story of Pentecost is how to contextualize it. 

- Do we read Genesis 11 and interpret the one-ness of Pentecost as an alternative to the confusion-and-diffusion of Babel? 

- Do we read Leviticus 23 and interpret Pentecost as the fiftieth-day celebration concluding the Festival of Weeks, so it becomes a story of God's abundance? 

- Do we read Leviticus 25 and interpret Pentecost as an expression of Jubilee, with all of the redistributive justice that goes with it? 

- Do we read Ezekiel 37 and interpret Pentecost as the Divine Breath, breathing new life into the dry bones of a tragic killing field? 

- Do we read Joel 2 and interpret Pentecost as a symbol of the 'last days,' as Peter does in his sermon that follows? 

- Do we read Acts 1:1-11, and interpret the power of Pentecost as the alternative to the disciples’ view of power when the ask about "restoring the kingdom" to Israel? 

- Do we read Acts 3 and interpret Pentecost through Peter's great claim, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I freely give you - rise up and walk"? 

- Do we read Acts 6 and interpret Pentecost through the newly invented-by-necessity office of Deacons, as a recognition of the variety of spiritual gifts? 

- Do we read about Stephen's death in Acts 7 and interpret Pentecost as the power that the early church had to give new meaning to the Greek word martyr, or 'witness'? 

- Do we read Acts 10 and interpret Pentecost through the peculiar image of a giant net/sheet/whatever, also coming down from heaven, with all manner of clean and unclean critters mixing it up, and hearing the words, "Let's eat!"? 

- Do we read I Corinthians 12 and 14 or Romans 12 and interpret Pentecost through the "one body, many parts" language of Paul's letters? 

 

My goodness! It will take a lifetime to experience the many dimensions of this story! Let’s get our red on and start exploring.

 

Mark of St. Mark

A Message from Kate Forer

 Friends,

 As promised last week, I am happily giving my Friday Extra over to Kate Forer, to introduce herself and her ministry to you a bit more. 

Happy reading! 

Mark of St. Mark

What the heck is spiritual direction? ...You might be wondering….

In response, let me ask you a few questions:

When was the last time you sat down and honestly talked to someone about your relationship with God? 

About the state of your soul?

About ways to go deeper - to grow more fully into the person God has created you to be?

About what gets in the way, for you, of being your full, true self?

If you have someone with whom you have such honest and open conversations, then that is wonderful. But most of us don’t. And many of us have never even thought to ask those questions in the first place. 

Spiritual direction is an ancient Christian practice that allows an individual to explore their spiritual life with a seasoned companion. So much of our life is lived busily on the surface - we go to our jobs, we take care of our children or our parents, we try to find time for friends and recreation - and often the deeper questions of the heart are left unattended. Spiritual Direction is a chance to attend to these matters, to fully engage in one's life, to discern how the Spirit is moving and calling. 

A few months ago I let Pastor Mark know that I was starting a spiritual direction practice (something I had dreamed of doing when I left full-time local church ministry. Just a quick aside: being a full-time senior pastor, as I was, does not leave enough time and space for these kinds of conversations with congregants - not when you have close to 300 of them). Mark quickly asked if I was interested in having office space at St. Mark. “YES!” I responded. I have been attending St. Mark off and on for several years now, and the idea of being planted within such a wonderful congregation seemed like a dream come true. 

And so here I am! I am meeting people one-on-one in my office for such conversations as mentioned above. I am looking forward to working with the St. Mark staff at some point to plan retreats (something I have done for many years and for which I have a real passion) and I’m hoping to be more involved in this lovely community. 

From two decades of pastoring, I know how hard church communities like St. Mark work. I know you are busy with your commissions and your service work - not to mention careers, kids, parents, etc. To do the work of being God’s hands and feet in the world we all need times to replenish and nurture the soul. Remember, even Jesus escaped crowds to spend time with God. I hope that I can offer a sense of nourishment and encouragement as you continue your profound work of loving and serving this broken world.

If you’d like to learn more about working with me, I invite you to visit my website: https://www.thetendedpath.org/

You can also always email me at kate@stmarkpresbyterian.org if you have any questions or suggestions.

I am so very happy (and grateful!) to be a part of you!

Blessings,

Kate 

Catching Up, pt. 3

 Friends,  

For the last two weeks, I’ve been updating you on things that are happening here at St. Mark. Today, I want to share some news and then encourage you to consider something. 

 

First, the news. Many of you have commented on how much you appreciate Kate Forer, who has preached for us on two occasions and has been part of our worship leadership on other occasions. I mentioned some time ago that Kate has initiated a new ministry as a Spiritual Director, which I will invite for her to describe for us in more detail in next week’s Extra. On Tuesday, our Session has voted to offer Kate an office on our campus for her practice and in return she will become part of our staff. As such, Kate will participate in our worship services, help with our 20-30 Something Young Adult group, and offer opportunities for introductory consultations with anyone interested in the work of Spiritual Direction. Kate also has a passion for leading retreats and is open to doing so with us. I am very excited about this door that is opening for us. In some ways, I feel like our staff is taking shape in a beautiful way. 

 

With Kate working alongside of Ann Scott, our Parish Nurse, and Gretchen Carrilo, our Parish Counselor, we have a very strong team of holistic care of the body, mind, and spirit. While it is never possible, or even desirable, to fully separate the body, mind, and spirit, at times we tend to them separately and at times jointly. Anyone who has dealt with high blood pressure knows that the physical expression of our circulatory system can indicate a high degree of stress. We may take a pill to address the physical symptom and speak with a therapist to address the stress. The two actions are not exclusive, but complementary, because our circulatory, lymphatic, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems are not fully separable from our emotions, hopes, will, fears, and desires. Whether we need to name it, sleep on it, or pray about it, our trio of Parish Nurse, Parish Counselor, and Spiritual Director can provide resources and encouragement. Thanks be to God.   

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Now, the consideration. In worship, you have heard about our plans for an Intergenerational summer camp, August 10-14, called MARC: Music, Art, Rhythm, and Community. I believe this is going to be a marvelous week. We are planning ways for the young and the young at heart to work together for a week of learning, community, play, and worship. Have you ever wanted to ring bells, but don’t read music? We will learn how. Have you ever wondered why we call a room “The Bonhoeffer Room?” We will explore Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life together. Have you ever sat in our Memorial Garden and wondered who this or that person was, whose name is engraved in one of the shutters? We will spend some time there and explore what it means to be part of the community of saints. And did you know that of the nearly one hundred varieties of lilies in the world (the genus Lilium), about twenty are native to California? We will “consider the lilies” during this week. All these explorations will be intentionally intergenerational, providing opportunities for young and young at heart to learn together. 

 

I encourage you to consider being part of our Summer MARC. You can contact SueJeanne Koh here for more information or to indicate your interest in helping. It has been a while since we have had a week-long summer event, so we don’t have either “the usual suspects” or “the usual process” to lean on. And I say that approvingly. This is a new opportunity, and I hope you will consider being a part of it. 

 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

 

Catching Up, pt. 2

 Last week I shared some of the things that are happening in our church life, with the promise to add more. This week we have some news from our Mission Commission. I will describe our Mission Commission first, then share the news. 

 Our Mission Commission “initiates, guides, and oversees the missional involvement of the church with regard to both local and broader mission relationships.” The Commission also “oversees the allocation of St. Mark’s mission spending.” This year, our elders designated $155,000 for the Mission Commission to allocate. $60,000 goes to the General Mission of the Presbyterian Church (USA); $30,000 goes to our Deacons; and $5,000 to our Peace and Justice Commission. The Commission then allocates the other $60,000 based on ongoing missional partnerships and specific opportunities to serve that arise. A good portion of those funds are left unallocated until the latter part of the year, in case there is a disaster or emergency that needs immediate attention (and there often is). Over the last few years, the Commission has tried to focus on deepening the relationships we have with our mission partners and maximizing the impact that our spending has on those in need. 

 

This month, we chose to fund a “50 for 50” campaign through Orange County United Way.  

 

Since its inception nine years ago, I have served on the Leadership Council and Executive Committee of United to End Homelessness, an arm of the United Way. Homelessness continues to be one of Orange County’s largest challenges, driven mostly by the lack of affordable housing in our area. Last year, 72% of people living in homeless shelters completed the application requirements to qualify for housing, but only 1 in 12 were able to obtain housing because of the lack of units available. Working with public and private groups like the Apartment Association of Orange County and the Orange County Continuum of Care leaders, United to End Homelessness is a leading voice in the county for housing justice.  

 

Among the houseless persons in our county, there are some identifiable groups: Seniors; Transitional Age Youth (who have aged out of foster care); and Veterans are the most common. The needs for each of these groups are different and the potential resources for them are also. This year Orange County United Way has initiated a “50 for 50” campaign, with the goal of encouraging 50 community leaders to house 50 Veteran households and provide a full year of support to ensure stability. For $25,000, the campaign will offer landlords incentives, such as deposits, holding fees, and risk mitigation funds; and offer Veterans housing navigation, furniture, and twelve months of case management with wraparound support services. Once the Veteran is housed securely, their case managers can help them secure additional avenues of support that will ensure that they stay housed. The one-time donation of $25,000 will get a houseless Veteran over the initial hurdle of securing housing. You can read more about it here. This month, St. Mark joined the campaign with a $25,000 donation. 

 

As far as I know, we are the first faith community to join this campaign and now I am using this action to encourage other faith communities to imagine ways of taking part. I also want to encourage you to consider if you should become part of the “50 for 50” campaign, either as an individual or within a charitable group that you are part of. If you have any interest in doing so or want to learn more, please let me know.  

 

There are so many needs and so many worthy organizations trying to meet those needs in our area and throughout the world. I appreciate how our Mission Commission endeavors to match our resources with those needs in ways that reflect our commitments to justice and compassion. 

 

See you in worship, 
Mark of St. Mark

 

Catching Up, pt.1

 Friends, 

 

Last weekend, we welcomed five new members into our church family and this weekend we will welcome four more. What a joy it is to welcome new members into our church. They bring gifts, wisdom, and curiosity. They have come to us by dint of God’s grace and calling, so now when we say, “St. Mark” we are speaking of them as well as those members who have been here for many years. What joy.

 

This week and next, I will lift up on a few things that are happening in our church life. 

 

We re-started our Brew Theology gatherings this week after a brief interlude, with a robust group and an engaging conversation around “My story, our story, God’s story.” 

 

Our Sunday morning worship continues to be powerful and meaningful, particularly with the music ministry under Ryan Yoder’s leadership and with Alicia Adams’ accompaniment. In addition, Debbie Fetterhoff and Alexei Rehorn have been leading our beautiful Handbell Ensemble. We always welcome new voices and ringers, so please feel free to contact the church office if you are interested in sharing your gifts. 

 

On Saturdays, our worship is very similar in its content but has a different vibe in its form. We have a smaller ensemble of musicians and singers, who show up faithfully each week to empower the music and liturgy with Ron Levy as our pianist and music director. Our “Life Together” gatherings and occasional “Meet Me at Muldoon’s” events (this Saturday!) have made this gathering more intimate and welcoming. 

 

Our Preschool is also doing exceptionally well. Under the excellent direction of Monica Heredia and Noemi Carrillo, we are operating at full capacity, offering tremendous opportunities for families and children to engage together in a wholistic, compassionate approach to early education. Our Governing Commission (5 church members with the director) and Parent Advisory Council (which also includes church members with parents) are doing great work are always exploring other ways of building our relationships. 

 

Another exciting thing that is happening these days is our exploration, with students at Cal-Poly, of ways to enhance and maintain our property. We love our canyon and our Facilities Commission have recently added Monarch butterfly habitats in its apron. Now, we are looking at more ways to lower fire risks, as well as ways to enhance the grounds surrounding the preschool. The process is early yet, but it has been wonderful to see landscape architectural students in conversation with our Facilities Commission about our commitment to environmental sustainability. 

 

There’s too much more to share, more to celebrate, and more to say, but for now I will just encourage you to read our 2025 Annual report and marvel at how faithful God has been among us as how faithful so many of our members have been in response. It is a joy to serve here.

 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

Flipping Tables That Need Flipping

Today is Good Friday, the difficult day of Holy Week when the betrayal, arrest, abandonment, trial, condemnation, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus result in his death. I know it is difficult for many of you to make your way to a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday worship service; and we were unable to stream last night’s Maundy Thursday service for a variety of reasons, so for today’s entry I want to send my reflection from last night. Then, at the bottom, is an invitation for you.

Throughout this season, we have tried to follow Jesus’ work of turning over tables. It is holy work. It is necessary work. It is the kind of work that has been needed throughout human history. Tables have often been places of exclusion, where some are welcome and others are forbidden; with clear demarcations between the servants and the served. Tables have often been lavishly plated for some, while others go hungry. Tables have often been places where decisions are made by the few and powerful, while the effects of those decisions have been devastating for those who are not at the table. Tables have often been a great prop for those who would pound it in order to exercise the implied violence behind their authority. The table is the tableau that shows who is who in our world. In that sense, we can say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and lead us, because so many tables in our world need overturning.”   

 

When we think of turning over tables, we think of that story when Jesus brought havoc to the temple court, but throughout his life Jesus demonstrated many ways of overturning tables. Jesus had the gall to sit publicly at a table with notorious sinners. He ate with them; drank with them; laughed with them; loved them, while the sanctimonious and proper folk stood apart and criticized him. Jesus let a woman, a woman of ill-repute as everyone knew, wash his feet while at a table, and even broke all the customs by declaring her clean. Jesus sat at a table with a diminutive chief tax collector and all of his tax collector buddies, much to the chagrin of the pursed-lipped religious folk. And, of course, Jesus overturned the tables on this night when he wrapped himself in a towel – a “tool belt for washing feet” – and served each of his disciples, one by one. When the Lord becomes the servant, the tables are turned.  Time after time, Jesus overturns everything we have been taught to think about tables as showing who is who in our world. 

 

And that is what makes our invitation to this table tonight so intriguing. For those who have bought into the culture of hubris, where we are here to be served and not to serve, who have bought into notions of success, notions of privilege, notions of who belongs among us and who does not – those are the notions of people who sneered at Jesus’ table, not those who joined it. When we have been trained in the culture of hubris, all of our presumptions get overturned at this table. 

 

And when we have been told that we do not belong at this table, that we are not good enough, not holy enough, no clean enough, not straight enough, not white enough, not male enough, not housed enough, or simply not enough – those assumptions are also overturned at this table. This is where betrayers, abandoners, deniers, fearers, and failures are treated as honored guests. Even in this last meal, as Jesus dons himself with a towel and washes each person’s feet, he was overturning tables. As we come forward to be part of the Lord’s Supper, we come to the table of overturning. 

Mark of St. Mark

Flipping Tables; Setting Tables

 Our Lenten Journey Continues 

I have a friend who has recently decided to throw off the gloves and start bare-knuckling evil wherever it may be found. I get it. There really is a lot of evil and it often feels that the quiet, steady work of suasion and service is getting us nowhere. At some point, we decide that we’re ready to change things one flaming Social Media post at a time and if someone is bothered by it then they’re part of the problem. At times, that kind of righteous anger is exactly what is called for. At other times it is simply another log that fuels the fire.  

 

Throughout this Lenten season we have been following the arc of Kathy Escobar’s book, Turning over Tables: A Lenten Call for Disrupting Power. In addition to a weekly gathering of those who are reading Escobar’s daily reflections, we have been studying and using the biblical texts that the book’s publisher, Westminster/John Knox Press, has developed to accompany the book. Hence, we have the six weekly themes that Escobar gives us in her book as our roadmap for this Lenten season. 

Our approach to last week’s theme, “Disrupt,” raised a lot of questions. The text that the publisher’s material provided was Luke 3:10-14, the story of John the Baptizer, telling the crowd to disrupt by sharing their food and clothing, then prohibiting tax collectors and soldiers from exploiting their power to oppress others. I don’t know about you, but I expected something a lot more dramatic – after all, our theme is “turning over tables!” But I suspect the crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers might have expected something more dramatic from John when they asked, “What should we do?” After all, John had no qualms about speaking truth to power and even lost his life for taking on Herod directly. 

 

If I were scheming this season around our six themes, I would have chosen to read the story of Jesus turning over tables for the week of “disrupt.” Part of my Lenten discipline has been to lean into the texts that the publisher provided, instead of doing my own thing (which is my wont.) And that has been a gift, especially this week. It helped me to notice that, long before Jesus turned over tables, he disrupted oppressive systems by sitting at tables with “the wrong crowd.” It shows that sometimes setting a table is more disruptive than flipping one. How powerful is that? It echoes everyone’s least favorite line from the 23^rd Psalm, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” It echoes the Proverb, “A soft answer turns away wrath.” It echoes that great story about Elisha in II Kings 6, when God blinded the enemy army and they wandered right into Israel’s stronghold. The king asked Elisha, “Can I strike them?” and he said, “No. Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink, and let them go back to their master.” And it is like Jesus’ teachings, echoed in Paul’s writings, the if our enemy is hungry, we feed them. That’s disruption. 

 

Setting a table does not feel as immediately effective or anger-satisfying as flipping a table. And many of us do not express our anger because we are in a privileged place where the injustice that offends us does not directly harm us.  Anger is a real and genuine human emotion, but I do think, however, that we often overestimate our capacity for clear-thinking and self-control when we are angry. John Lewis and other Civil Rights advocates of the 1960’s followed the principle that, until we have cleansed ourselves of hate and are motivated by love for our neighbor, our anger will not achieve God’s purpose, because we will become no different our enemy. I think that is the primary lesson that most Christian Nationalists are ignoring with their chest-thumping cheers for violence. We cannot ignore anger or underestimate its destructive power. Our Lenten journey is calling us not to resort to quietism or to violence, but to disrupt unjust systems with truth and unanticipated love. 

 

With you on this journey,

Mark of St. Mark

Luminosity and Witness

 Friends, 

I returned this week from spending some time in Florida, first visiting my brothers and then attending a “Luminosity” conference in Orlando. (One special treat from the conference is that I was able to visit my Seminary roommate and his spouse, also a friend in Seminary, whose wedding I was part of. What a gift it is to be able to re-connect with friends after almost 40 years, seven children, and three grandchildren.) 

 

The conference was interesting, informative, and refreshing. Our last Plenary Speaker was Dr. Eric Barreto, a New Testament professor from Princeton Seminary, who began his presentation by saying something like, “I’m tired of people tell the story about a church that is losing, failing, and falling apart.” He went on to say that our narrative is a different narrative and demonstrated through the stories in the book of Acts how God is active in the world in ways that defy our definitions of success or failure. I had a hard time focusing on the next thing he would say, because everything he said set me off into an imaginative, learning conversation with the Scriptures. One moment, God comes into the human story with healing, the next with a table that welcomes the outcast, another moment with a clarifying story or enigmatic parable, another with bread, another calming a storm, raising the dead, giving an aged couple a child, teaching the centrality of love, and so on. The sheer multiplicity of ways that God works – often surprising and unexpected – fills me with humility when I consider what we are up to here at St. Mark. 

 

Think of our Session, for example. According to the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church, our Session is a collection of eighteen elders, who have been elected by the congregation to work together to fulfill this mission: “The Session shall have responsibility for governing the congregation and guiding its witness to the sovereign activity of God in the world, so that the congregation is and becomes a community of faith, hope, love, and witness.” Notice the part that I have italicized. Our elders guide us as we point to what God is doing in the world, just as the Scriptures point to what God was doing in their day. We get to ask, “In what way is God calming the storm of our day?” “Where is God offering healing?” “Where is the table being widened?” “What has expired that will be raised to new life?” And most importantly, we ask, “How is God doing a new thing among us, surpassing our imaginations?” Even though so many of our energies are given to routine and necessary things like worship-planning and tree-pruning, even those activities take on new life when we remember that God is not dead, sleeping, retired, or bored with loving creation. 

 

So, that’s a taste of the “streams of consciousness” that our speakers evoked in me during the Luminosity conference. There were many more, but it will take me some time to organize them in my head before I can share them coherently. 

 

In the meantime, here we are in the midst of our Lenten theme, “Turning over Tables,” which I have found compelling. I hope you have, too. And thank you for providing such a kind welcome to Kate Forer, our guest preacher last weekend. I was able to watch the services and know that you heard a fabulous sermon. I’m glad Kate is such a friend of St. Mark.

 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark

Outward Disciplines; Inward Transformation

 Friends,

Throughout this Lenten season – due to our readings of Kathy Escobar’s Turning over Tables, as well as our discussions in our book and text studies – I have been attuned to the process of transformation. It seems very complicated to me, starting with the character- and habit-formation that I learned at an early age. Some of who I am was taught intentionally by parenting, example, mentoring, Sunday School lessons, and the like. I learned much of it by simply observing and conforming to the habits of those around me. Much of it was good. I learned kindness, forgiveness, responsibility, and things of that nature. But, along the way, I also took on racist, ableist, patriarchal, heteronormative, and cis-gender presumptions. Nobody taught them deliberately, but I learned them anyway. And, like many of you, I have tried to eradicate many of those lessons from my heart and mind ever since. 

 

In the Christian tradition this eradication process is called sanctification. We don’t need the musty term to know the process. Think of the story of the People of Israel, journeying for 40 years in the desert to forget how to think and act like slaves in Egypt in order to live as God's people. In their anxieties about hunger and thirst - real anxieties, mind you - they often reverted to their enslaved mentalities. When God provided manna, they gathered more than they needed, because they did not trust that God would provide again the next day. For many of us – perhaps in a pique of anger, or when lowering our guard through intoxicants – we revert to the things we thought we had overcome, find ourselves saying or doing things that we regret, and later claim "That is not really who I am." 

 

But "Who am I?" we might ask, echoing Bonhoeffer's profound poem with that title. Are we the greed, racism, ableism, patriarchy, or heteronormativity that many of our communities taught us to be along the way? Or are we the disciple of Jesus Christ, refusing to conform to the world and being transformed as the Holy Spirit renews our minds? Are we both? Are we half-and-half? Wishy-Washy? Lukewarm? More good intention than good deeds? 

 

In the church, we tend to use the language of "yet, but not yet" to describe how the Reign of God comes through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We may find it helpful to use similar language to describe the "yet, but not yet" nature of our sanctification. I think of the old hymn that says, "O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be." It does indeed seem that the journey out of the old habits and into new ways of being are a daily task, perhaps even a daily struggle. In plain language, the grace that brought us into the family of God through Christ is the grace that we rely on daily to live into the love and justice of Christ. We are, and we are not yet, saved from sin. 

 

But it is still complicated. I think one of the great deceits of our time is to imagine that we can simply ‘learn’ our way into transformation. I look at the “self-help” section of the library and wonder, “Who is the Mark that needs help and who is the Mark that is going to offer help to that Mark? Aren’t I the same guy?” And, during the season of Lent, I can focus on some determinable, conscious habits, like foregoing chocolate or reading a devotional daily. But chocolate is not the cause of my internalized racism or sexism, so I’ve been wondering how the cultivation of habits is connected to the transformation of character. Jesus once accused religious leaders tithing mint and dill, while ignoring the weightier matters of justice. I feel that if all of my Lenten energies are on what I’m eating or reading, I may also be ignoring weightier matters of character. 

 

That said, the season of Lent, for me, is that time when I attend to my daily, outward habits as a window into my inward need to be transformed at my core. And because I realize how much I struggle with the simple task of giving up or taking on something deliberately, I am keenly aware of my constant need for God’s grace to be transformed from within. 

 

What a humbling journey it is,

Mark of St. Mark

 

Do You See What I See?

 As many of you have noticed and commented, there are some radical changes that have taken place in our sanctuary over the last few weeks. I have heard nothing but positive feedback, but if you have any concerns, you are welcome to share those as well. 

 The first change is that we now have three monitors in our sanctuary for our projected images and words during worship. Aesthetically, the two monitors at the front of the sanctuary are equal in size, unlike the former setup with a large screen on the right and a smaller monitor mounted on the chancel floor. And, we were able to take the older, slightly smaller monitor that was on the floor and mount it in the back so the choir and liturgists can see what the rest of us see. Practically, the images on the screens are sharper and clearer and the height of the screens means you can sit behind that really tall person and still see everything! Many thanks to Jack Freytag, who put together the initial proposal for the screens, and Kathy Roberts who helped to shepherd the process along. And thanks to the elders on our session, who saw the original plans and allocated the funds for its installation. 

 

The second change that our worship commission has installed fabric and lettering for our Lenten décor. You can see “Reveal” which was our theme last week as we read the story of Blind Beggar Bartimaeus. This week is “Lament,” as we hear Jesus lamenting the state and fate of Jerusalem. Our use of décor during particular seasons of the church is to enable everyone who enters to have an immediate sense of what the season is about. This year, the worship commission asked Nikki Abejon to assist with the design and creation of the words that correspond with the themes of our six weeks of Lent, and Drew Abejon led the installation itself. And every season, Jeremy Smith has the unlovely task of climbing the extension ladder and doing the high-altitude stuff. It looks perfect. Thanks all around. 

 

I want to share a quick word about how we use the screens. When we first started, I approached the screens like projected bulletins – plain font for ‘one,’ and bold font for “all,” italics for lyrics, and other tricks of the trade. I learned that folks with macular degeneration have difficulty reading italics and bold font, so we quit using them for responsive, participatory words. In a workshop on inclusivity in worship, I discovered that there is a font for persons with dyslexia, but also that it works best in printed material and is difficult for those with vision challenges to read in projected words. So, we are constantly making adjustments, increasing font size, looking for the cleanest and most readable font, and other such things week after week. Since turning to the screens, we no longer use and recycle more than 200 bulletins each week. And, the screens enable us to use music that may not be in our hymnal, or alternate lyrics that are better suited to our theology. (Add screen technology to the list of “things they didn’t teach us in seminary.”)

 

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Now, a few announcements:

 

Tomorrow, February 28, SueJeanne Koh will go before the Presbytery for her final approval for ordination. Pray that all goes smoothly, as I believe it will. Soon we’ll announce her ordination service.

 

Are you, or is someone you know, a young adult with a passion for organizing for justice? CLUE has a 2026 Young Religious Leaders Fellowship opportunity for those who are passionate about economic justice and faith-rooted community organizing. Click here for details and how to apply. 

 

Did you know that there is a women-led prayer vigil for our immigrant community that pray for the disappeared every other Thursday at noon? They invite you to join them at the Santa Ana Immigration Court, 1231 E. Dyer Road in Santa Ana, March 5 and 12. Click here for more information. 

 

What do you know about homelessness in Orange County? United to End Homelessness is hosting a “Homelessness 101” class on Friday, March 6, from 12PM – 2PM in the United Way Orange County building, 18012 Mitchell South in Irvine. Click here for more information and to register. 

 

Continuing our Lenten Journey together,

Mark of St. Mark

Lenten Disciplines and Leadership

 Friends, 

We are now in the Season of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday of this week. Thanks to those of you who joined us for a very tactile service of remembering our baptism and then remembering our mortality with the words, “From dust you have come, to dust you will return.” 

I did not grow up in a church that observed Lent, much less Ash Wednesday. Any idea I had about Lenten disciplines was a vague sense that my Catholic friends ate fish on Fridays, and some people suffered through giving up dessert for a time. Even now, after almost 40 years of being Presbyterian, I feel like I’m still a bit behind the curve. If you feel that way also, just know this wisdom that someone shared with me once: There’s no right way or wrong way to observe Lent. Many saints have come and gone without even knowing about it, so Lenten observance is not essential to the Christian life. 

That said, I find the observance of Lent to be a wonderful way of tapping into both my own needs and the call to follow Christ. It taps into my needs because life is rhythmic – a blend of cyclical, year-after-year rotations around the sun as well as new things that our creative God is always doing among us. And the observance of Lent invites us into a deeper sense of Jesus’ words, “If anyone will be my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.” 

Earlier this week I reached out to many of the leaders that we have at St. Mark – the staff, our elders, and our deacons – to inquire if they were undertaking any Lenten disciplines that they would be willing to share with the rest of us. Because Lenten journeys are personal, I will not connect any names with the disciplines that others shared, but will give you an overview of the kinds of ways that we can drink deeply during this season. 

Some are being attentive to what they eat or drink: 

- Giving up a weekly stop after worship at a local restaurant for carnitas nachos (“they are the best!”); giving up chocolate; giving up meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, or completely; and avoiding junk foods like snack chips and French fries. 

- Avoiding tobacco, alcohol, or regular events where alcohol is the central focus. 

Some are taking on commitments: 

- Reading daily from the book Turning over Tables, by Kathy Escobar, and joining our weekly discussion on Wednesday evenings. 

- Watching our weekly Text Studies that are posted every Monday and joining the discussion on Wednesday mornings. 

- Reading Lenten devotionals online, such as the Presbyterians for Earth Care devotional found here.

-  Using the Lenten devotional within the Bible app, “Grow and Believe.” 

Some are tending an attending to their personal interactions: 

- intentionally avoiding or walking away from conversations that are “judgmental, critical, unkind, untrue, and unnecessary.

- being less hurried in my thoughts and physical presence.

Some are committing to daily or weekly routines:

- Exercising daily or a set number of times weekly

- Keeping a daily Lenten journal.

- Budgeting in order to make extra donations to our Deacon-supported organizations.

Some are trying to avoid conveniences that can have cumulative negative effects, such as: 

- Ordering food that comes in plastic containers

- Using Paypal or credit cards for online purchases.  

I remain impressed by the spiritual maturity and thoughtfulness that our leaders. And if any of these ideas inspire you, it’s not too late to step into either letting something go or taking something on for Lent. The point is not to see how heroic are sacrificial we can be, but to interrupt routines in order to live more intentionally as followers of Christ. May God bless you on that journey.

Mark of St. Mark

Doubly Marked

Doubly Marked 

And so, we gather.

A community doubly marked. 

The first is a watermark, 

generously bestowed on many of us 

at an age we don't remember. 

 

Time and again we hear the words: 

"Remember your baptism," 

assuring us that memory is more than 

what the mind retains. 

 

The second mark is the ash, 

one year oily; one year dry, 

each year a reminder 

in a solemn moment: 

"You are dust, 

and to dust you shall return." 

 

And so, we gather.

A community doubly marked. 

 

Declared on one occasion: 

"A beloved child of God." 

Declared on the other:

"Mortal, finite, destined to die." 

 

Both are true and one is 

as inescapable as the other. 

 

And so, we gather. 

A community doubly marked.

 

With varying degrees of 

doubt and certainty, 

pain and joy, 

confidence and fear, 

hope and despair, 

we gather. 

 

We gather because   

it is only by embracing our 

sure and certain death 

that we begin to live.

 

And so, we gather.

A community doubly marked.

 

A body, as it were, 

where each member is 

a microcosm of the cosmic truth:

“In life and in death, we belong to God.”

 

D. Mark Davis, 2026