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Apr 2023
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 the fall, and our leadership began having conversation in November. In January, a task force assigned by our Covenant Council began meeting to explore the possibilities and what it might look like. Our work focused on how it could work, and we have shared those results with you. Now, members of the church get to decide if......
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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,...
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‘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...
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Potential Merger Update
Guest writer: Marsha Dean What does the future hold for St. Mark’s and Sanctuary UMCs? I wish I knew the answer. I have been serving on the Merger Task Force for a couple of...
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Welcome to Lent!
This is our first Sunday in Lent. Lent began with Ash Wednesday this week and continues until Easter Sunday. It’s 40 days, plus Sundays. This season, we invite you to read through the Gospel...
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