A Hopeful Future

When this congregation called me to be an Associate Pastor in 2015, I thought that nothing could top the feeling of joy and gratitude I felt in that moment. You all proved me wrong on August 30th. I am so incredibly humbled and honored to be able to lead this wonderful congregation as your new Senior Pastor. It’s a privilege I couldn’t have imagined five years ago. And yet, I have embraced this with all my trust in God’s grace.

I have a lot of hopes for St. Mark Lutheran Church. I always have. Some of those hopes are things I can have some control over, but the vast majority are up to you as you decide how you want to live into the gospel which frees us all. My most immediate hope is that we can make it through to the other side of this pandemic with confidence, unity, and good health. I am so grateful for a church council that has been wise and considerate as we navigate the unknown. When we do return to the sanctuary on Sunday mornings, normal will have a new meaning, and it will be up to all of us to adjust to that new world and find comfort once again through in-person worship.

A quick word on that. The council and I decided on Tuesday night to extend our drive-in worship services through November 1st. On November 8th, our plan is to return inside for services at 8:00am, 9:30am, and 11:00am. We will need to have capacity limits according to state and county guidelines, but the 9:30 service will be streamed live on YouTube. More details will be coming shortly, and as with everything else in our lives this year, this plan is subject to change.

In the long run, I hope that St. Mark continues to engage with the community around us, both in our neighborhood and in our city. It says a lot that your pastors have rarely needed to be hands-on with outreach ministries because so many of you are quick to share the love of God through service to our neighbors. My greatest hope is that St. Mark continues to be a congregation known for its generosity to the community, as more and more members find ways to share God’s unshakable love in a turbulent world.

In a similar way, I hope that the abundance of land in our care might be transformed into a welcoming and inspiring outdoor refuge for our community. This has been a hope that a good number of you have had since long before my time. For many people, the promise of God’s love is most evident in God’s wonderful creation. We have a tremendous opportunity to use what God has given us to provide a blessed corner of that creation for both our members and our neighbors.

I hope that St. Mark continues to grow as a place where families and children can feel welcome and vital to our life together. I have heard countless stories about the good that our preschool did to foster this sort of atmosphere. With that era in the past, we continue to find new ways to be a church that shows God’s grace to the youngest among us. I am grateful that we have staff and volunteers who have the passion and skill to do this well.

Lastly, I hope that this pandemic has taught each of us that we can be the church wherever we go, and that neither distance nor time can keep God’s love away. I hope you remain curious and eager in your faith, whether you are at a pub or your own backyard. I hope that the promise of resurrection might sustain you in good days and bad. And I hope that God will continue to unite us as the Body of Christ made evident in the people of St. Mark Lutheran Church.

With confidence in the work of the Spirit,

Pastor Chad McKenna

God's Relentless Pursuit for Workers in the Kingdom

The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who when out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. - Matthew 20.1

The Men’s Bible study resumed this week with a study of Matthew chapter 20. The chapter opens with this familiar parable of the laborers in the vineyard. We often remember it for its punch at the end when the workers are paid in reverse order of when they were hired and all are given the usual daily wage. It was the wage agreed upon by those early morning workers for a day’s work and the payment given for even the eleventh-hour workers so that they would have sufficiency to meet their needs. It’s a parable of justice and grace.

However, I don’t think we often pay close enough attention to the behavior of the landowner in this parable. This landowner goes out early seeking workers for his vineyard. This is to be expected. But then this landowner keeps going every few hours in search of more laborers for his vineyard. At nine and noon, three and five the landowner goes out again and again hiring workers.

If I put on my business hat for a moment, I have to wonder if this landowner is incredibly bad at knowing how many people to hire for the work that needs to be done. But human resource management is not the problem for this landowner.

The landowner is relentlessly in search of workers to go out into the vineyard. There is plenty of work to be done and the landowner will always have room for more workers who will each receive the wage they cannot earn.

Can you believe it? It is simply never too late in the day for this landowner to go out seeking more workers. Even at the eleventh-hour workers are being sent out into the vineyard.

Perhaps there have been times in our lives when God’s grace has found us at the eleventh-hour, surprising, unexpected, and abundant.

The good news for us is God’s continued pursuit for workers in God’s own vineyard. The surprise is in the payments which all turn out to be the same, sure. But also, in our God who spends the whole day getting laborers for the vineyard and giving us along with all the workers in the vineyard the joy of work in the kingdom of God.

Together we as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are known at the “God’s Work. Our Hands.” church. All our hands are needed in the vineyard of God’s kingdom. God has called you to this work and through you is calling others to join in tending this vineyard.

God is never done seeking out new workers. Our joy is in the labor for we have already received the grace we cannot earn.

Peace,

Pastor Robert Franek

Interim Associate Pastor

We are the Body of Christ

Today’s article is adapted from Pastor Chad’s sermon on August 30th.

On Sunday, we celebrated communion together for the first time since March 8th. Like everything these days, it was anything but normal. Who would have known, when we reluctantly closed the building six months ago, that the world would change so drastically?

When we celebrate communion right, it should do two things. First, this meal of bread and wine grants us that forgiveness which God has already given. It is more than mere food or a simple reminder. It is Christ, fully present, given for you. You may have noticed that on Sunday one of the elements was missing. To be frank, CDC guidelines and other factors kept all of us from partaking in the wine. While the Lutheran Church has always advocated for the availability of both the bread and wine, God's mercy is still fully present when you can only have one part. The benefit is not restricted by our own human limitations. We can trust in God's power to be fully present in the bread or wine alone.  When allergies or dietary restrictions or the logistics of a drive-in worship service during an ongoing pandemic keep us from sharing in one part of the meal, God still feeds us. It may not be ideal. I know that for many of us it was quite strange to only share in the wafer. And yet, Christ is still present giving life and salvation to us all.

The second thing this meal does is to unify us as the Body of Christ. This is a meal we share together, after all. If it were simply about personal devotion, you could host a one-serving communion feast whenever you wanted. I suppose Christ’s mercy would still be present even then, but you shouldn’t have to pull this meal out of your own pantry. It shouldn’t be you who has to pick up a bottle of wine at the store or add a loaf of bread to your next grocery delivery, just to receive God’s mercy in this meal. This is a feast, with an open invitation for all to come and be fed.

When communion is brought to folks who are bound to their home or hospital bed, it is an extension of the meal we share together on Sunday morning. We can always do a better job to ensure that meal is, in fact, extended to those who need it. If you would like one of us pastors to bring the feast to you in these strange times, please let us know.

Communion done right is forgiveness freely and equally distributed. It unites us in our common need and sustains us with our common food. As the Apostle Paul says, we “are the Body of Christ and individually members of it.” We are fed so that we might feed others. We are forgiven so that we might bring forgiveness and salvation to a world in desperate need of Christ’s healing love. That is why we gather for communion as often as we can. I pray that this pandemic continues to cease, so that we have more and more opportunity to share this meal in health and grace.

Peace,       

Pastor Chad McKenna   

                                                                                                                          

 

New Worship Service Coming Soon!

I have a feeling that it is going to be a while until we return to a steady, comfortable rhythm of worship. The kind of worship where you know what to expect, and where little changes from week to week or year to year. Whether you love ritual and tradition or not, when the patterns of a worship service are embedded in your bones, and you know with confidence what will happen next, you can relax into a much more spiritual experience.  Think about how our online services felt to you back at the end of March. I would bet that you experience them differently now that they seem somewhat normal. And though they cannot compare to the in-person worship you know and love, I would hope that if you have continued to tune in week to week, the experience has become more meaningful to you in some manner.

That is all about to change, though. Starting on August 30th, our Sunday morning worship experience is going to go through another change. Like many congregations around the country, we will begin having drive-in outdoor worship services where we can gather in person, sing at a distance, and share in communion. We plan on having this be our Sunday morning practice, rain or shine, through at least the end of September. For now, we will be taking a break from Wednesday night services. Due to the nature of the pandemic, it is difficult to say what form our worship will take once the temperatures begin to drop.

The outdoor service, which will be at 9:30am, will take place in the parking lot. There will be enough space beside each vehicle so that you can bring lawn chairs and sit next to your car if you prefer. We will have a short-range FM broadcast so that you can hear the service through your car stereo or a portable radio. 

I should mention that for safety reasons our Mulford Road entrance will be closed during these services. When you arrive, you will want to enter via the Featherstone Road entrance. At the end, you can leave either the same way you entered or through the adjoining OSF parking lot. Ushers will guide you to where you need to go. To complete the St. Mark experience, as you drive away there will even be some familiar faces handing out bags of donut holes to each car.

If you are away or unable to go out in public, the service will be live streamed to our YouTube channel. Later in the day it will be available for you to watch again and again, just like our other worship videos.

I am so eager to be able to worship in person with you all again! As I have said before, the council’s primary goal continues to be the safety of our members and guests. We have worked hard to make sure our new outdoor worship will indeed be a safe and meaningful experience for you all. We had originally planned on starting this practice on Rally Sunday, but we feel confident that we can begin even earlier. If it proves popular, a second service time may be added, so please continue to read the Memos and check the app to be as up to date as possible. I cannot wait to see you on August 30th!

 Peace,                                                                                                                                   Pastor Chad McKenna

Tearing through the Roof: Creativity and Persistence

Since the Northern Illinois Synod Assembly for 2020 was postponed until 2021, a few of the presentations that were to happen during those two days together at Augustana College were turned into Zoom webinars. I recently participated in the Rev. Louise Johnson’s presentation: All Questions, No Answers: Navigating Change in an Uncertain World. Pastor Johnson serves as Director of Leadership Development for LEAD. I have known her since I began discerning my call to seminary. As the Associate Director of Admissions at Wartburg Theological Seminary she helped me navigate the admissions process and welcomed me to campus as a new student in the Summer of 2003. I have always appreciated her perceptive insight into the gospel call that makes the stories of Jesus come alive in new and stimulating ways today.

Pastor Johnson in helping us walk together through these uncertain times drew on an array of biblical texts and images. It was this first text in her talk that resonated deeply with the kind of imaginative persistence and creativity that I hope emerges amid the systemic challenges facing the church amid the pandemic and beyond this current crisis.

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³ Then some people^[a] came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2.1-5

As we reflected on this text from the second chapter of Mark, Pastor Johnson invited us to consider the logistics of carrying this paralyzed man and then imagine them coming upon this scene of a great crowed blocking the door. All their hard work and preparation only to run into another unforeseen obstacle.

The story tells that when they could not get in the front door they went up on the roof, dug through it, and lowered their paralytic friend down on the mat.

It is the creativity and persistence of these friends that eventually gets this paralytic to Jesus. And this persistence Jesus calls faith.

Life happens fast and with great urgency in Mark’s account. As Pastor Johnson said, “It’s only chapter two in Mark’s Gospel and already they are tearing the roof off to get to Jesus.”

In a telling insight for leadership in times of change Pastor Johnson reminded us that these friends could not have planned for the challenges they faced when the crowd blocked the door to the house. No amount of strategic planning would have involved tearing through the roof as option two in their pursuit to get their paralytic friend to Jesus. And yet, with ingenuity and urgent determination, they figured out how to get their mat-bound friend up on the roof, began digging, and lowered him to where Jesus was.

The image of tearing through the roof to get to Jesus sticks with me. I wonder about the new unthought ways of meeting the challenges before us today. What new actions become possible because old ways simply will no longer work?

I pray that the same creativity and persistence that guided these friends to see new possibilities when the world around them changed will invigorate our imaginative actions today. And by God’s grace may they be seen as faith.  

Peace,  

Pastor Robert Franek  

Interim Associate Pastor

An Update on our Pandemic Strategy

I want to be honest with you. I desperately want this pandemic to be over. I dream of being back in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings and catching up with all of you between services. Though I am grateful for all the hard work that so many of you put into our online services, I would much rather put that same work into something we could do while gathering in that familiar physical space.

The way we get there, though, is not by wishing the virus away or ignoring the persistent threat it poses to each of us. We will get there by doing everything we can to put an end to this pandemic. Our council, under the guidance of both the ELCA and the Illinois Department of Public Health, created the guidelines we currently have because we want to get back to normal quickly and safely. The guidelines are not meant to restrict us. They exist so that we can move gently away from the pandemic that has held us back for too long.

As a reminder, all small groups are welcome to resume meeting at St. Mark. Some have already begun to do so, and it is such a joy to see folks gathering together again. To gather safely, though, we must all follow the guidelines which are designed to keep you and your neighbors safe. Those guidelines include signing a waiver and taking attendance, as well as wearing facemasks and keeping our distance. In addition, just like we have always done, groups that wish to gather on St. Mark property need to schedule through the church office, and your council has final say on whether a group can or cannot meet on church property.

As with any congregation in the ELCA, worship services at St. Mark only occur under the approval of your pastors and council. Right now, the two worship options we have approved are the online worship services and Wednesday Evening Worship in the sanctuary. New online services are available every Sunday at 8:00am on the St. Mark YouTube channel. I am happy to announce that we are aiming to also begin outdoor Sunday worship services by the end of August. Until then, we worship as we are able, knowing that an empty lot on Sunday morning does not mean we are not united.

At this time, we have not received any requests for additional worship opportunities. If you have any concerns or questions about the plan we have in place, I would urge you to contact our council through Kraig Reichwald, the president of the congregation. His email address is reichwaldk@yahoo.com.

Everything we are doing, both at St. Mark and in the other areas of our lives, is not simply for our own sake. When I wear a mask, I do so not just to protect myself, but to keep my potential germs from infecting someone far more vulnerable than me. We remain cautious in this pandemic precisely because we care about one another, and we wish to see an end to the threat. As followers of Christ, our actions should not be self-serving, but rather we reflect the humility of Christ. I want to leave you with some words from the Apostle Paul, which I have found helpful in this time: 

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:1-11)

 On Behalf of Your Church Council,

Pastor Chad McKenna

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