Looking Back on 2025

Dear Siblings in Christ,

As your pastors, we feel blessed to journey alongside you. We want to use this year’s report to highlight just how true that is. We may be your pastors, but you are the ones who make this community what it is. Every Sunday, we rely on up to twenty-two volunteers to make worship happen, along with anywhere from seven to eighteen musicians. Of course, there is always a bit of overlap, but worship happens thanks to everyone who wears a lanyard, stands at a microphone, plays an instrument, assists with communion, and works behind the scenes.

On average, we have had about 185 people in worship on Sundays, and online worship attendance has increased since last year. This speaks volumes to who we are as a church. Thank you for your kindness and genuine hospitality to others. Even when you aren’t volunteering in an official capacity, you contribute to the warm and welcoming atmosphere that makes this place truly special.

The two of us often joke that the real boss around here is our office manager, Jill Davenport. In truth, every staff member is amazing, and we are so grateful for all they do. Church work is not easy and can be exhausting, but it is also life-giving, in large part because of you. Our staff rely on you to do their work well, and they are supported by Sunday School teachers, committee members, front desk attendants, offering counters, one incredibly committed bulletin printing assistant, and so many others.

The generosity of St. Mark’s members is unmistakable. This summer, you went above and beyond when we challenged you to match a gift given from Ulla Kercher’s estate to fund our outreach, youth, and children’s ministries, creating an account with over $25,000 to support those ministries. Every time we ask you to support a local charity with food, gifts, or donations, you do so with enthusiasm and kindness. In the last two months of 2025 alone, you donated a literal ton of non-perishable food to our local pantries, over 130 coats for our refugee community, and 60 gifts for LSSI’s foster children.

In the community, you are the body of Christ. Through the church and on your own, members like you actively serve at Habitat for Humanity, Mosaic, the Uniform Co-op, Carpenters Place, Rock House Kids, Rock River Valley Pantry, Emmanuel Lutheran Pantry, Bridges to Prosperity (formerly One Body Collaborative), Katie’s Cup, and Cornucopia Pantry. We are so grateful for all you do in the name of Jesus.

Near the end of August, we were finally able to take action on last year’s listening campaign. Over 80 people showed up for our Kingdom Caucus to learn about what our listening team heard, and the ways we can grow in ministry. Four different task forces emerged from this meeting, focusing on Senior Supports, Gathering Beyond Sunday, Expanding Outreach, and New Member Initiatives. Those four groups will be hard at work during the upcoming season of Lent to ask for your help in making their ideas a reality.

This past year has been a year full of exciting adventures. We will continue to follow God’s call to love others in this new year, and we cannot wait to see what God has in store! 

Peace,

Pastor Chad McKenna and Pastor Katrina Steingraeber

 

The Parable of Jesus, According to the St. Mark Confirmation Class

One of the great joys of ministry at St. Mark is teaching our confirmation students. This group of seventh and eighth graders meets every Wednesday to connect with one another and learn about faith, scripture, and life in the church. This year, our confirmation students have been working their way through the Bible. 

We recently moved into the New Testament, studying the story of Jesus and how it is told in the four gospels. Last week, Pastor Chad asked the confirmands to draw pictures of the most important moments in Jesus’ story. A few students drew crosses. One drew a nativity. Another drew a beautifully detailed depiction of the Last Supper. All of these moments and more are vital to Jesus’ story, as well as our faith, and it is amazing to see how different aspects of the story resonate with different people. How we tell a story says as much about us as it does about the events we attempt to describe.

This past Wednesday, the students and Pastor Katrina talked about Jesus’ parables. After the discussion, she asked the confirmands to write their own parable about Jesus. As they worked together to write the parable, she asked them if we could share their writing with the congregation, and so it is with their permission that we share “The Parable of Jesus, According to the St. Mark Confirmation Class.”

There was man, who name is Jesus, he was very compassionate. Some people like him, he had a group of friends but many people did not like him. He did not care about social class, he cared a lot for the lowly and the poor. He always accepted others but he was not always accepted. 

Even though he was hated, he loved everyone so much that he was crucified for everyone’s sin. But he came back! He proved to the people who hated him, that they were wrong. They now believe in him. 

Now people tell his story all the time.

How would you tell the story of Jesus in your own words? If you could only tell that story with a single sketch, what moment of his life would you draw?  

Peace,

Pastor Chad and Pastor Katrina

How are You?

I recently purchased a new devotional book titled, Go For It, Boldly Live the Life God Created For You, by Melissa Horvath. The first devotion is titled “How Are You?” which is a valid question that we ask people we encounter almost every day. In the devotion she comments on how we ask strangers and friends, how are you and typically the response is good, how are you?  But do we ever ask someone, how are you really?  And if we ask that, are we prepared for the answer? When we ask for an honest and raw answer, we may hear that someone is sad, angry, hurting, etc.  Or we could hear that they are doing great and amazing.  We are allowed to have and feel all the emotions. 

Earlier this week I was really struggling.  I was struggling with feeling sad and angry.  I was also struggling with feeling helpless, I felt there was nothing I can do for the people in Venezuela. That helpless feeling continues today as my heart breaks for the people in Minnesota. There is nothing I can say or do that will change things for the family of Renee Nicole Good, who died after being shot by an ICE agent.  Perhaps some of you feel the same way? 

I have found myself at a loss for words to pray.  My body is noticing my struggles.  I am restless, numb, tired, and overwhelmed.  But I am grateful for colleagues and theologians who have posted prayers for me to read.  Today I found a prayer that I needed to hear from Kelly Sherman-Conroy who is a Native Theologian.  Perhaps you need it too.  Here is her prayer…

Creator God,
We bring You what our bodies are holding.
The grief we can’t name.
The anger that tightens our chests.
The fear that won’t let us rest.
We ask for permission to set some of this down.
Not because it doesn’t matter,
but because we are not meant to carry it alone.
Breathe peace into our nervous systems.
Soften what has clenched.
Release what has been held too long.
Hold the lives that were lost.
Hold the families who are grieving.
Hold the communities who are tired of surviving.
Today, teach us how to rest without guilt,
to release without forgetting,
and to care for one another gently. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Katrina Steingraeber

Christmas and the Solstice

The worst kept secret in Christianity is that Jesus wasn’t actually born in December. Though followers of Jesus have been celebrating the story of his birth from the very start, December 25th didn’t become the official day until the middle of the fourth century.

There are a number of theories about why this specific day was chosen. Perhaps the Church wanted to replace pagan practices around the winter solstice. This time of year, nights are long and many hope for the light to return. In ancient Rome, December 25th was when folks could first observe that the days were starting to lengthen again.

As we hear in the opening verses of John’s Gospel, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” What better time to celebrate Jesus, the light of all people, than on the day that light begins to overtake the night once again?

All living things respond to the changing seasons. Animals hibernate or migrate when the days start to get shorter than the night. Even leaves on trees change color, not because of temperature or lack of water, but because of dwindling sunlight. When a tree branch is next to a streetlight, its leaves stay green even after all the other branches have let go. In recent years, scientists have begun to treat symptoms of seasonal depression with specialized lights that simulate the sun’s rays. Life responds to light.

Observing the winter solstice has been a universal human experience for thousands of years. From Machu Picchu in Peru to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, ancient astronomical observatories studied the sun’s movements. In Newgrange Ireland, a large mound built from quartz stones has a single opening that only allows the inner chamber to be filled with sunlight on the shortest day of the year. The Wurdi Youang in Australia is similar to England’s Stonehenge, though it has been marking the shifting seasons for almost twice as many millennia.

There are countless customs and festivals humans have come up with to ward off the night and to celebrate the daytime during this time of deep darkness. Burning Yule logs, hanging evergreens, lighting candles, exchanging gifts, and hosting feasts are all ways that people get through this difficult span of time. These traditions are meant to strengthen our hope. For Christians, they are here to remind us of the brightness of God’s unwavering love. We use them best when we enter the new year, not with stress and anxiety, but rather with joy and confidence in our God.

Unfortunately, too much of Christmas has been commercialized. Traditions meant to restore hope have become commodities with a price tag. Rituals meant to bring peace have been stuffed with high expectations. All the music and light designed to take our minds off of winter has been pushed earlier and earlier into autumn. So many of us enter January burdened by debt and defeat, unable to tell if the days are actually getting longer.

Do what you can this season to lean into hope over obligation. Embrace traditions that remind you of the warmth of God’s love, and hold onto them well beyond Christmas Day. Keep the lights up and the joyful music playing. Take care of yourself and those you love. Remember, as John wrote, that “the true light, which enlightens everyone,” has come into the world. This is good news worth celebrating all year round!

Peace,

Pastor Chad McKenna

Prepare, Ponder, Love and Joy

We all know that we are well on our way to Christmas, only a short amount of time to finish buying gifts, preparing for family, etc.  But we still have some days of Advent left before we find ourselves looking at a tiny babe in a manger.  I am trying to keep my heart and mind in the season of Advent by reading reflections or devotions on Advent, so I take my time getting to Christmas. Today I read a reflection/devotion on Advent from the book Speak it Plain, Words for Worship and Life Together by Meta Herrick Carlson.

Here is the reflection: The sacred call “Prepare!” does not ask for lists or logistics.  We do not “Keep awake!” only to ensure we are not forgotten at the rapture.  Nor is the stillness sedentary. So, do not simply go looking for a candle scent to capture what it means to Ponder, or a gift to prove your Love, or a tall tree to announce, “Joy to the World!”

Advent lays bare visions of time bending into already and not yet, by the God who tears apart the hustle, the heavens, the temple curtain! With no intention of mending back together our favored boundaries. This is the thin space where stillness is powerful and God is changing our hearts, so sacred Ponder, Love, and Joy can birth and shelter. The miracle grows with slow strength in the one place we have all called home, where we do not yet know another way, while our fullness is being prepared, carried, and nourished by the One who says, “Yes.”

As I read the Advent reflection, I was drawn to the words Prepare, Ponder, Love, and Joy. Advent is a time for us to ponder and prepare.  It is a time to reflect on what is important in our lives.  It is a time to share our love and joy with others and a time to share the love of Christ Jesus with others through simple acts of kindness. I hope that you can find some moments of peace where you can reflect on the Advent Season.  I hope you can find moments to prepare your heart and mind for the fast approaching Christmas Season. 

In the remaining days of Advent, I encourage all of us to lean into the season and to spend time in the stillness.  We may be surprised at how God changes our hearts with sacred pondering, loving, and joy. 

Blessed Advent,

Pastor Katrina Steingraeber   

The Spiritual Practice of Stewardship

The ELCA writes that, “We are a church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace — our congregations are evangelical mission centers where courageous and wise stewards are grown. Congregational stewardship begins with a healthy understanding of gratitude and generosity. We have first received and therefore we give.”

How do we respond to God’s call to serve and love our neighbors? We faithfully steward the gifts God has so abundantly given to us. Stewardship is more than a financial response to God’s love.  Stewardship encompasses how we use all that God has entrusted to our care — our time, our talents and our treasures — to love God and our neighbors, both inside and outside of the church walls and our homes.

Stewardship calls for a blending of our faith and the way that we live our lives — we are a church that is energized by lively engagement in our faith and life. Stewardship is a mindset, a culture and a discipline that can never be contained in an annual campaign. According to Clarence Stoughton, former president of Wittenberg University, stewardship is everything we do after we say “I believe.” It is the way in which we use all of the resources that God has entrusted to our care so that we can love God and our neighbor. Stewardship is about love.

The spiritual practice of Stewardship forms the way we see the world and ourselves within it as people of faith.  We are called to steward every part of who we are for love’s sake.  A holistic practice of stewardship is the inseparable pairing of giving and serving.  Holding these practices together help us emphasize a life of self-giving.

Stewardship is as much an individual spiritual practice as it is shared in community.  When we strengthen the bonds of love among each other, we strengthen our community. When stewardship is rooted in love it embodies joys and a shared table.

Like I mentioned in my sermon on Sunday, November 9^th, 2025.  I am extremely grateful for how generous you all are.  When there is a need, you all step up.  You are a gift to me, the church, and our community.  St. Mark could not do what we do without each and every one of you.  You are a gift to St. Mark and I am so glad you are here. 

Yours in Christ, 

Pastor Katrina Steingraeber    

Your Generosity is a Celebration

It’s that time of year again. Let’s talk about the budget, shall we?

The good news is that giving has gone up the last couple years, and this year offerings have been higher than the council anticipated. We are not in a state of decline, and St. Mark continues to grow in our ministries of service and faith formation. The generosity of St. Mark’s members is unmistakable. This summer, we challenged you all to match a gift given from Ulla Kercher’s estate, and you went above and beyond. Those funds are being used to support our outreach, youth, and children’s ministries. 

Every time we ask you to support a local charity with food, gifts, or donations, you do so with enthusiasm and kindness. You gave 133 pounds of cereal to the Rock River Valley Pantry in September. Right now the hallway is overflowing with coats for Rockford’s refugee community. Soon, you will no doubt buy Christmas presents for 60 foster children in LSSI’s annual Adopt-an-Angel program. It is a joy to behold your goodness.

Of course, you know what is always paired with good news. I hesitate to use the word, “bad,” so I’ll say that the less good news is that, like your generosity, expenses are also on the rise. Anyone who has bills to pay and groceries to buy knows that rising prices are the unfortunate reality everyone is living under. Households, businesses, healthcare providers, non-profits, and local governments all feel the pinch when everything costs more than it used to. Expenses have grown so much that, even with your increased giving, we will most likely end this year with a deficit.

Your offerings are used with care to support everything from music ministry, worship, faith formation, outreach, and staff salaries. Over the last few years, our staff and council have worked incredibly hard to trim our expenses to be as lean as possible, while still providing these ministries. As one ministry leader put it, there isn’t any fat in our budget.  To get it balanced again, we need everyone’s help. 

In November, St. Mark members will be asked to make a pledge for giving in 2026. Our goal this year is $800,000. As we approach Stewardship Sunday, I ask you to pray about your commitment to our ministry and to carefully consider increasing your pledge for the coming year. If giving increased by a dollar a day per household, we would exceed that goal! At the same time, a pledge of any amount will get us closer to the finish line.

I was hesitant to call rising expenses bad news earlier because every dollar that we spend goes toward sharing God’s love with the community and meeting the spiritual needs of this congregation. Our entire budget is a celebration of our values as followers of Jesus Christ. I am confident that you will once again rise to the occasion and support this wonderful congregation of ours to the best of your ability. Thank you for all you do for St. Mark, and all that you will continue to do in the coming year! 

Peace,

Pastor Chad McKenna