Pastor’s Blog

Busy, Busy May
May 12, 2023

Busy, Busy May

May is a busy month for St. Mark’s! Service Sunday was a great success! We had 17 teams of people doing various service projects all over campus and the community. You’ll see photos on Sunday...


Join Us for Service Sunday!
May 05, 2023

Join Us for Service Sunday!

We have 175 people signed up for our first Service Sunday. That’s fantastic news! We are addressing Priority No. 4 in our church’s stated priorities: “St. Mark’s United Methodist Church will become physically involved in...


To Merge, or Not To Merge?
April 28, 2023

To Merge, or Not To Merge?

This Sunday, the membership at both Sanctuary and St. Mark’s United Methodist Churches will vote in their own meetings whether to merge functionally and legally into one church. Sanctuary started this conversation with us in...


Guest Post from Rich Howell
April 21, 2023

Guest Post from Rich Howell

On April 30 both the congregations of St. Mark’s and Sanctuary UMCs will vote on whether to merge. I have served as part of a task force team made up of Pastor Lynn, Marsha Dean...


The Hard Work of Change
April 14, 2023

The Hard Work of Change

  Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! This isn’t just a mantra we share on Easter Sunday, but it’s the reality that we live each day. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and...


Waiting for Good News
April 07, 2023

Waiting for Good News

On Sunday, we had marathon worship service, filled with powerful music and Scripture. It would have been long even without Communion, but I grossly underestimated its length for a Communion Sunday! I’ve now used up...


Hosanna in the Highest
March 31, 2023

Hosanna in the Highest

Every year at this time, the song from “Jesus Christ Superstar” comes to my mind—Hosanna, hey sanna, sanna sanna ho/ Sanna hey, sanna hosanna. The crowd sings, celebrating Jesus as he comes into town. Caiphas...


On Decisions and Voting
March 24, 2023

On Decisions and Voting

This past week, the Covenant Council met at St. Mark’s for its regular meeting. As you know, this is the committee in the church tasked with keeping us on target with our ministries and activities....


On Trust and Love
March 17, 2023

On Trust and Love

  My husband and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary this week. It seems like yesterday that we were in Madison, Florida, taking our wedding photos at the gazebo downtown, surrounded by bright pink azaleas, live...


'All in,' But Which Way?
March 10, 2023

‘All in,’ But Which Way?

At last Sunday’s Town Hall meeting about the potential merger with Sanctuary UMC, we were asked why a merger and why not just a shared ministry, a partnering, a cooperative model. This is an excellent...