Council Corner: May 2025

t’s great to be back in worship at St. Mark’s after wintering in Florida. There is something to be said about the comfort familiarity brings to one’s soul.

After hearing about the winter you experienced here this year, we were grateful to see the snow was gone and spring had indeed arrived here at home. Springtime…a time when we see signs of God’s newness all around us…longer days, winter branches form buds and flowers, warmer temps and more sunshine.

At our recent Council meeting we continued to have discussion around the Isaiah 43:18-19 text, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” We reviewed our discussion around the first part of the text…our past as a congregation. It’s important to remember that this verse is not telling us to forget or disregard our past. Our past and our traditions are what makes us who we are today. However, while there is comfort in remembering the former things, it’s important we don’t get trapped there. Our goal is to recognize the newness God brings forth to us and for us.

We continued our discussion by identifying some of the deserts and wastelands here at St. Mark’s.Our lack of youth and all that goes with a youth group was identified as a desert as was our society’s culture towards church in general. Our hope is that by defining our deserts and wastelands, we might be better able to see what could be the new thing this scripture promises to us.

And, like springtime…God is always doing some new thing…in our hearts, in the world, and in our church. You can count on it.

Denise Ballou

Council President