9 September 2021

Dear Friends of St. Mark’s,

This week I returned to the office from vacation, having spent the past three weeks with family on the mainland. Many of my relatives I had not seen for two years due to the pandemic. Both Chicago and Buffalo have considerably less spread of the virus than Honolulu, so it was nice to enjoy the greater freedoms in these cities. At times I forgot that a pandemic was raging in other locales.

In Hawai’i we continue to struggle. I had hoped that September would bring back some pleasures of our pre-pandemic worship life. One could argue that the pandemic has been particularly brutal for our Anglo-Catholic tradition of worship. As our main service was mostly chanted Sunday after Sunday, and when singing is discontinued due to the virus, our church is sadly stripped of one of our great strengths for proclaiming the Gospel. This coming Sunday was to be the return of our choir, as Mike Dupre has assembled a very capable group of singers. For the short term, the choir’s return has been postponed. Evensong and Benediction was to resume this week too, but now I am hoping that this devotion may return in October.

It is also worth noting that many of you have shared how your patience for online programming has diminished. With many not being able to return in person to the workplace yet, and as many find themselves only interacting with others through technology, there is an incredible desire for in-person contact. If one does not have family locally, and/or if one lives alone, this is an especially lonely time. Whereas at the beginning of the pandemic the greater use of technology was welcomed, a year and a half later the novelty has faded. We cherish in-person interactions, and yet we are also limited in how we may gather.

While in Chicago my extended family gathered for my brother’s wedding. It was a surreal event considering what we have been through due to the pandemic. No one had to be masked, and the wedding and the reception were joyous. Everyone was vaccinated except for a few who had to obtain negative COVID tests if they were to attend. The bride and the groom made their expectations very clear. I hope that we can experience such joyous gatherings together at St. Mark’s sooner than later. From what I can tell, almost 100% of our congregation has been vaccinated, and that is great news.

As we continue to make the best of this situation, I ask that you support St. Mark’s in the following ways:

September is Give Aloha month at Foodland. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to donate $249 for St. Mark’s via the Foodland website. I did this while I was in Chicago. I already had an account with Foodland, as I often order my groceries online for pickup. At the end of September Foodland will match a proportion of all the funds donated for St. Mark’s. Please give generously.
Every Sunday we live-stream the 10:30 am mass. The service posts on our website, as well as Facebook and YouTube. Please consider sharing the live-stream with family and friends via email or your social media accounts. This is a very simple way to extend an invitation to others on behalf of St. Mark’s.
Take some time to reach out to your fellow parishioners. This can be as simple as a phone call or email. You never know what impact you might make in someone’s life.

I look forward to the waning of the virus, so that we may rebuild our parish life at St. Mark’s. Our average worshipping attendance has dropped by almost half since the pandemic began. Pledge income has remained consistent, but plate income has disappeared. Many of my colleagues have shared with me that their church budget projections for 2022 are challenging. For now we are managing at St. Mark’s, but I also want to add that managing is synonymous with declining. Our goal is to thrive in Jesus Christ.

When competing in a race, an intelligent athlete knows how to pace oneself. Eventually when the time comes to break free and push for the finish, one still has abundant energy to expend. This September we are pacing ourselves, but eventually we will need to push forward with all our might so that St. Mark’s may thrive again. We do this for the sake of the Gospel and for the growth of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

In Christ,
Father Paul Lillie +