A Word of Encouragement and Thanks from Pastor Mark I want to thank you for your prayers and support of one another as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more. | With the state's "Stay At Home" executive order in place, the St. Mark office will be closed and staff will be working from home. Should you need assistance from the office staff, you may email jill@stmarklc.com and someone will be in touch. If you need pastoral care, please call Pastors Mark or Chad. We ask for your patience and prayers as we face this pandemic together. While we can’t predict what’s immediately ahead of us, we can live our days with assurance and faith in the Lord of the Church to be with us. | This Sunday, we encourage you to tune in again and join our St. Mark family in worshiping together from our homes. We will be streaming abbreviated, pre-recorded worship services on our St. Mark YouTube Channel, available for viewing throughout the day on Sundays, beginning at 8:00 A.M. These short, weekly pre-recordings will include prelude music, the reading of our three scripture lessons, a full-length sermon, and the prayers of the church. I estimate these will last approximately twenty-five minutes. Look for a special email and push notification from our app on Sunday morning providing a link to this service on YouTube. We’re hopeful this will give our congregation a much-needed sense of community during these difficult times of separation. | This Lent, ELCA World Hunger is extending a special invitation to congregations: Lift up the life-changing work of ELCA World Hunger through new levels of giving – spiritually, intellectually and financially – through ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving. Congregations will join together to raise $2 million to benefit the ministries of ELCA World Hunger. You’re invited to join together with fellow supporters to study, pray and give. Accompany us as we journey with our neighbors in hope for a just world where all are fed.” During the Lenten season, we are asking each St. Mark household to consider giving $2.00 per day over 40 days (totaling $80) toward this effort. You will be able to give via Pushpay on the St. Mark App, or got to stmarklc.com/give as well as by check to St. Mark, designated, “ELCA 40 Days of Giving.” | CARE Package
St. Mark has an ER nurse on the front-line at Mercy Health. We also know through our congregation we have ER nurse at OSF and Swedish American. With your donation we will be delivering snacks and a note of encouragement and thanks from St. Mark. Please consider a donation on Pushpay under the fund type select CARE Packages or by check by April 5th. Thank you! | St. Mark Mobile App!
This is a perfect time to download our St. Mark App!
If you are having trouble downloading or have any questions, please call Jill Davenport at 815-218-3403 or email jill@stmarklc.com, she will help you through the process. This is different than our church directory app.
Our mobile app is designed specifically for St. Mark to improve our communication with our congregation and nurture our members. We encourage you to download the app. It's about getting involved and staying connected. Click on this link for information on how to download the app! | St. Mark Mailbox
Our property manager, Chris Semmelroth has put up a mailbox at St. Mark outside the staff entrance on the south side of the church. Since we are working from home, we are not there to let the mail person in. We will be checking the mailbox everyday and bringing it in the building. Also any voicemails that are left, we will be retrieving those daily. | St. Mark Prayer Chain
Would you like to be a part of the St. Mark prayer chain? Prayer requests come into the church office weekly. As we receive prayer requests we would send out an e-mail and ask that you pray daily for the persons mentioned in the requests. All requests are to remain confidential. Please e-mail melinda@stmarklc.com if you would like to participate in the prayer chain. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Colossians 4:2. | Stay Connected to Your Church Family
We encourage you to reach out to a church member either by a phone call or send a quick note to let them know you are thinking of them. | We find ourselves in a complicated and unsettling time, and caring for children in the midst of uncertainty can be especially difficult. Routines are upended, activities are canceled, everyone is stressed, and no one has any good answers. I’m right here in the middle of it with you, and I want you to know that, despite physical distance, we are still connected and we can still be in community with each other. I’ll be focusing on helping you connect with your children and helping your children connect with each other. It may be a little unpolished, and some attempts will be more successful than others, but we can all learn together. Meanwhile, I would like to share a resource that was developed by an ELCA church in Ohio. It has 8 weeks of daily Bible passages and family activities. There are crafts to make together, websites to check out, recipes to try, and songs to sing. Please use them in any way that is meaningful for your family. Click here for the link Peace and Grace to you all,
Julie Eshleman
Director of Christian Education | Mission 2020 will be July 12-17th. We will be on a road trip to Ohio. We will be stopping at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the dunes and Cedar Point Amusement park. If you would like more information, please see Melinda Alekna. (815-871-0390 or melinda@stmarklc.com | Our St. Mark members: Gary Campbell, Bill Jennings, Joe Fink, Pam Cottrill, Tim Panjkovich, Bette Patterson, Jason Carlson, Beverly Wright, Jerry Cazaniga, David Young, Keith Haggestad. Family and friends of St. Mark members: Mark Cotter, Lynda Foxley, Shirley Drummond, Linda Johnson, Rebecca Meyer, Nancy Kunnert, Robert and Cindy Wilson, Pastor Jane McChesney, Emily Tropp, Louis Fivaz, Mike Leonard, Katelynn Audette, Eva Love Sherbondy, Clay Heinrich, Mary Graham, Kim Menke, Norma Comstock, Carolyn King, Ashton Henley, Nathan Gyllin. Those serving in the military and their families: Hunter Haggestad, Tristan Davenport, Scot Hornick, Bailey Panjkovich, Xander Gehrke, Jim Tammen, Brandon Ballenger, Taylor Eversole, Dean Barron. | Office Hours
Currently, the staff is working from home. You can contact them through email. The church directory app has the staff contact information, or you can leave a message on the church's voicemail and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
Telephone: 815-398-3557 Publications
St. Mark Memos, the weekly e-newsletter, is distributed each Thursday. The deadline for submission is Monday by 4:00 P.M.
Please click to send submissions. Sermons Online
Miss a Sunday at St. Mark? Please visit our website and watch the sermons online.
Please click to watch. | |
