About Last Night

Last night, St. Mark had its first in-person worship service as we ease our way into a new sense of normal. When I sat down in my usual chair, I found my bulletin from the last time we worshipped on March 8th, full of announcements for events that never occurred. Except for a brief note encouraging folks to not shake hands, there was no indication of the tidal wave of change that would hit in the coming days. In a week’s time we went from discussing good hygiene practices to outright closing the building. What started as a three week hiatus has now extended well past four months. 

This pandemic has driven us all to restart most things from scratch. A lot of care and thought went into our worship last night. Many people put in so much work that most of us probably hadn’t had a chance to prepare ourselves for the experience. I wasn’t sure where my emotions would take me. It was surreal to stand up on that chancel, with familiar faces looking back at me, being able to preach to and pray with someone other than my own self. Would I get choked up or nervous? Would I laugh with joy? I would be lying if I said I didn’t get choked up a little as we worshipped in the same space for the first time since the middle of March.

There were less than twenty of us spread across that sanctuary. Before the service began, there were a few conversations at a distance, but mostly everyone kept to themselves. It felt different from what you will see in Sunday’s video. Without hymns and other more active moments, it became quite a contemplative service. I can’t speak for others, but in the middle of a busy week, such a moment of rest was just what I needed. You won’t be able to tell from watching, but we spent some time in silent prayer. Bob Rub turned the organ into an instrument of meditation, and we all had the opportunity to light a candle as we added our own, silent prayers together into one voice.

I am very proud of our staff, our council, and our Worship & Music Committee for putting together such a meaningful and safe service for the few of us who gathered. I know that because of safety concerns and schedules, Wednesday Night Worship won’t be accessible to everyone. As I have said before, our primary worship experience will still be the Sunday morning videos. However, I do hope that those of you who are able to join us will register to come and worship in this additional way at some point this summer.

Click here to register for Wednesday night Worship.

Peace,                                                                                   

Pastor Chad McKenna