Congregation Council … What’s New?
Council Elects New Officers
At its meeting on December 8, the Congregation Council elected new Officers to serve through the coming year:
President: Bill Turner
Vice-President: Mario VIzcarra
Secretary: Raelene Long
Treasurer: Colleen Struss
Congratulations and hanks to these members for volunteering to serve our Congregation in these roles. Please pray for all of our Council members and these Officers!
2026 Quarterly Benevolences
The Council approved the following quarterly benevolences for the coming year!
Q1 – Food for Others / ECHO
Q2 – Caroline Furnace / Mar-Lu-Ridge / Joy Ranch (www.joyranch.org)
Q3 – ELCA World Hunger
Q4 – Lamb Center / FACETS
Sacristy Project—A/V System Upgrade
As our Sacristy Project is nearing completion, we have added another small but important project to the list: refurbishment of the Audio/Visual system rack. The A/V rack manages the various microphones and loudspeaker combinations used during worship, as well as being the central hub for the control of the remote-control camera and the video feed we use for online streaming and video recording. We have been getting by with older components in the A/V rack, but as you know, we have experienced a few outages this summer—some disruptions due to construction and others due to equipment failure.
The old sound mixing board was no longer economically repairable compared to the price of a new board (with newer features). We are presently operating with a borrowed sound mixing board. The cost to put in a new sound mixer and associated IT equipment is $6,700. While our system provides very important services for those who worship in person, it is critical to those who depend on our Facebook and YouTube streaming to participate in worship with us from home or while traveling.
If you would like to contribute to the refurbishment of our A/V control equipment, please annotate your check for Sacristy: A/V, or use the online giving portal and select Sacristy Project. Any excess funds raised will be used to support the overall Sacristy project.
Guidelines for Use of the Education Wing
As we return to Sunday congregation activities in the Education Wing, we are being respectful of the St. Mark’s Montessori School’s needs for the safety of our SMMS students and staff, as well as the need to provide safe conditions for our youngest members and their families. At present, the only congregation activities being scheduled in the Education Wing are Sunday morning age-group Sunday School/Confirmation classes, Youth Group on the Upper Level, and the Nursery on the Lower Level.
Keep in mind the following Rules of the Road:
Please don’t come into the Education Wing (or the rest of our building) if you are feeling ill. We will be doing touchless infrared temperature scans in the Education Wing
Masks are mandatory (Age 2+) and must cover the nose and mouth.
Use the main entrance, Door 5, to enter and leave the Education Wing for the activities taking place on the Upper Level. Only those using the Nursery should be using the playground entrance door and the lower hallway. Please do not enter the Education Wing from the Lower Level hallway coming from the Fellowship Hall
We are trying to minimize our footprint in the Education Wing on Sundays and clean up after ourselves.
Use the hand sanitizer station at the entrance.
Activity leaders are asked to keep attendance of who is using the rooms.
Sanitize the bathrooms after each individual use.
Please don’t linger in the hallways.
St. Mark’s Constitution
Have a need to look for something in our St. Mark’s Constitution? Click on the graphic at the left to download it for your use.
Results from the May 17, 2026
Spring Congregation Meeting
Thanks to all who attended the meeting, both in person and on Zoom. We did indeed satisfy the quorum of 50 members present, so we were able to conduct our congregation's business. Find the agenda HERE.
After Carl Bauersfeld provided information on the parking lot repaving plans and answered those questions and concerns from our members, the congregation approved the motion to move forward with the parking lot repaving project with ProPaving, Inc., as recommended by the Property Committee and Council, up to a maximum cost of $50,000. Carl will provide us with updates as we move forward.
President Bill Turner announced Council's approval of the Organ Revitalization Team Charter and the naming of Kathy Wahl as team leader. Additional team members are Bruce Wahl, Alice Real, Karen Kyger, Chris Michaelsen, and Carl Bauersfeld. Alice's presentation on the organ at the congregation meeting was well received and can be viewed HERE.
For those of you who are interested in a short but entertaining video of our very own Steiner-Reck Opus 100 Pipe Organ and a demonstration of what it can do, click HERE—please note that you can skip the quick ad at the beginning after a few seconds ... then it begins with a scene of our sanctuary.
Long Term Planning—Property
A Property Review Team (the “Team”) has been convened to evaluate the full breadth of properties owned by St. Mark’s. This team will make recommendations for potential new uses that may generate income, benefit the church body, benefit the community, or the like. The Team will consider both current and long-term needs of the Congregation. Team members include Ken Anderson, Bill Dinnison, Kay Graff, Ray Griswold, Pastor Triolo, and Erik Long, with valuable input from Steve Carlson. The team will ensure the Congregation is kept informed and provided opportunities for input. Please include our Team in your prayers as we undertake this important work. Thank you!
NOTE: See further information on this plan going forward on the TOWN HALL page.