Newest Posts

• Shepherd’s Table Community Dinner — All Are Welcome (Wed, November 26th)
  2 Nov 2025
  

  Join us at St. Mark for a free, Thanksgiving Feast —no RSVP required. This “all are welcome” meal is offered in honor of a member’s son and in the spirit of Luke 14:12–14: sharing food, community, and grace with anyone in need.

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• Welcome New Members Mary and Rick Thoman
  14 Nov 2025
  

  Mary and Rick became new members of St. Mark in October of 2025. Mary grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and Rick grew up in Portland, Oregon. They have attended multiple churches during their lives.  Most recently, they attended LCMS Lutheran churches in the San Francisco Bay area in California. Both Mary and Rick are retired and they each had multiple employment career paths.  Mary worked in medical research at Yale and Stanford early in her career.  She retrained and then worked as a diagnostic medical sonographer for 30 years at Sutter Health in the San Francisco Bay area.  Rick worked for the Architecture/Engineering firm SmithGroup for 40 years.  His first 10 years were spent as a licensed Architect working on hospital and research laboratory projects.  He later retrained to work as an Information Technology manager in various IT roles for SmithGroup. Mary and Rick met and married in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991.  They have lived in various Bay Area communities but settled in San Rafael, CA for their parenting years. Mary and Rick adopted their only daughter Emily from Changsha, China in 1995.  Emily is now an adult and lives in Boston, MA, working in higher education and social services while pursuing a PhD in Social Policy. After retirement, the Thomans decided to relocate to the Pacific Northwest for a new adventure and to be closer to family.  They moved to Lacey in August of 2024.  Mary’s brother lives in Bellingham, WA and Rick’s mom lived in an Adult Care Home in Gresham, OR but passed away last year.  Rick’s sister lives on the Oregon coast. They recently purchased a home in the Steilacoom Ridge neighborhood in Lacey. Mary and Rick enjoy hiking and reading.  Mary grew up in an avid birding family and so they enjoy watching birds.  Rick plays fingerstyle guitar “poorly” but enjoys trying.  Mary is a New York Times Spelling Bee fan and Rick does Wordle most days.  They enjoy volunteering for Thurston County Food Bank and St. Mark Clean Kids.  They both enjoy watching pro baseball and basketball, and are loyal to their San Francisco teams, “but keep up with the Mariners as well”. Mary and Rick said, “St. Mark has already helped us to feel comfortable.  We appreciate the wide range of ministry opportunities and the current efforts to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation. We’ve found St. Mark to be a friendly place for newcomers.  We see people living out their faith through love and service to the community.”    

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• Meet New Member Debora Kernan
  13 Nov 2025
  

  In October 2025, Debora was welcomed into St. Mark as a new member. Debora was raised in a variety of locations as her father was serving in the military. Her early years were spent in Germany, Texas, and Washington, her adolescent years in Hawaii and Washington again. Both of her parents were from Tacoma, so she considers the Pacific Northwest home. While in the Army, Debora’s father was a Lutheran Chaplain. She was baptized as an infant in her grandmother’s church, Bethlehem Lutheran, in Tacoma. Debora attended Our Savior Lutheran in Tacoma for many years while raising her children. After a late-life divorce in 2018, she moved to Lacey to live near her sister and her husband. Debora has two grown children, both married. Her daughter and family, including Debora’s two grandchildren, live in Stanwood. Her son and his wife are young professionals living in New Mexico with their two dogs. In her spare time, Debora enjoys playing the piano, painting, reading, walking, listening to jazz and classical music, and sightseeing. She also does some traveling in the summers. Debora says she feels welcome at St. Mark and enjoys the warmth of the congregation. She has already joined the choir and enjoys singing soprano with such a nice group and Choir Director. Debora says, “I enjoy beauty, nature and art, and I experience that at St. Mark.”

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• 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
  9 Nov 2025
  

  We worship on the first day of the week because Jesus was raised on that day. Every Sunday is a little Easter. This Sunday feels more like Easter than many as the appointed texts celebrate the reality of the resurrection. Live it up this Lord’s day. Our God is the God of the living.

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• All Saints Sunday
  2 Nov 2025
  

  In holy baptism God makes saints out of sinners. In holy communion God forgives the sins of all the saints. In worship today we give thanks for all the saints “who from their labors rest.” In the same breath we petition our God for the strength to hear and to heed the admonitions of Jesus in today’s gospel. Sealed by the Spirit and sustained by the Savior’s body and blood, we live with joy as God gives us breath, to the praise of God’s glory.  

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• Reformation Sunday
  26 Oct 2025
  

  Rooted in the past and growing into the future, the church must always   be reformed in order to live out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world. We celebrate the good news of God’s grace, that Jesus Christ sets us free every day to do this life-transforming work. Trusting in the freedom given to us in baptism, we pray for the church, that Christians will unite more fully in worship and mission.

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• 19th Sunday After Pentecost
  19 Oct 2025
  

  Pray always. Do not lose heart. This is Christ’s encouragement in the gospel today. Wrestle with the word. Remember your baptism again and again. Come regularly to Christ’s table. Persistence in our every encounter with the divine will be blessed.

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