August 4, 2022

St. Mark’s Congregation,

Exciting News - New Interim Pastor

We are very pleased to announce that the Rev. Kendra Nolde, a retired ELCA pastor, is coming to St. Mark’s. She will be working 30 hours per week from September 1st through December 31st.

Pastor Nolde actually grew up here at St. Mark’s, and her parents are still in the area. Pastor Hanson knows her. She and her husband, Jeff (also a retired ELCA pastor), dog Willie and cat Iris will be moving into the parsonage. Their permanent home is in St. Louis.

The Council had a meet & greet call with her over Zoom last evening and then voted to accept the Letter of Agreement. Pastor Nolde explained that she sees herself as more of a “bridge” than an interim. The role of an interim pastor is normally heavily focused on helping a congregation prepare for the call process. We are already there, so her role is to provide spiritual support as we await our new Senior Pastor.

She and her husband will be leaving this weekend on a dream trip to Tanzania, but she does plan to start work on September 1st and be here for the September 4th service. We know you will want to extend her a warm welcome.

More Exciting News - Call Committee Appointed

The Council also voted to appoint the following individuals nominated by the Executive team to the new Call Committee:

  • John Heller — Chair
  • Beth Bradley
  • Robin Hahn
  • Kim Metzloff
  • Tom Rigg
  • Andy Swenson

We are grateful to these members for their willingness to serve, and we thank all of those previously on the Committee for their work.

We are very close to having our updated Ministry Site Profile out to the Council to review and approve. Once it is accepted by the Synod, the Council and the Call Committee will meet to go over it. Pastor Ken Sandlin of the Synod office will schedule a call committee orientation.

Worship Schedule

Many of you have expressed the joy you are feeling at having everyone worship together in a single service. While we know there are certain elements all of us miss from our “usual” service, it is great to see so many sitting around us, lifting their voices together and connecting with those we seldom saw or never met before.

In discussion with the Ministry Team and the Council, we found overwhelming support for continuing with the single service for a while longer as we let our new worship leads settle in, find a Contemporary Music Director and reform our Praise Band.

We will reevaluate our situation as we get closer to Advent to see if that is a good time to move back to our previous schedule. Until then, we will continue to have a blended service from 9:30-10:30 AM. Starting September 11th, our Sunday School (look for more details about some fun changes to the format) will be held from 10:45-11:30 AM. This gives our kids plenty of time to grab a doughnut before heading downstairs.

St. Mark’s Church — Better & Stronger Together

Yours in Christ,
 
St. Mark’s Council