June 2026

Our Voice
Don Leonard

A while ago there was an article in the paper that reported on an inspiring interfaith story between a Christian church in our area and a neighboring synagogue. Overbrook Presbyterian Church, the familiar and impressive stone building at City Line Ave. and Lancaster Ave., had a fire in 2024 that destroyed its sanctuary. It’s still under construction and has required the congregation to worship elsewhere. The Rabbi at Temple Beth-Hillel in Wynnewood invited the Presbyterian congregation to gather at the synagogue for worship, Bible study, and meetings. But the collaboration between the two congregations evolved into more than a “logistical favor.” The two congregations started to do activities together. They’ve had joint sessions where the Pastor spoke about Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount followed by the Rabbi’s discussion of passages from the Talmud, the central text of Jewish religious law. One night, on the 8th night of Passover, they had a joint service including 200 Jews and 300 Christians. Because Easter and Passover overlapped, the Rabbi realized that the Presbyterians would not be able to bring their sacramental bread into the synagogue, and would have to take communion with the unleavened bread matzah, and thus, according to the Pastor, an unusual “crunching” sound was heard from his congregants during the communion. During this period swastikas were painted on the synagogue and the Overbrook church contributed a fund to their removal which Temple Beth Hillel promptly returned to the church for its rebuilding fund.

And yet, amid this affectionate collegiality between the temple and church, and given the historical memory of the Holocaust, the specter of antisemitism still haunts the world including our own nation as evidenced by the recent swastikas at Temple Beth-Hillel.  What are the origins of this enduring antisemitism? Unfortunately, its roots in the Christian world stem from holding Jews (by some) as forever responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. The so-called “blood curse” on Jews, purportedly coming from Matthew 27:25: “His blood be on us, and on our children,” has poisoned Christian-Jewish relations for centuries. It was only definitively renounced by the Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council in 1965, recognizing that a few Jewish leaders 20 centuries ago need not represent all of Judaism.

Furthermore, the roots of Christianity go deep into Judaism; after all, the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) is a forerunner of our faith. The Old Covenant in the Hebrew Bible, which was God’s special relationship with Israel, also applied to Jesus and his followers; but Jesus’s death and resurrection led to a New Covenant of everlasting grace. Jerimiah prophesied that this New Covenant would replace Mosaic law. In addition, there are many Old Testament prophesies about a Messiah and Jesus that are fulfilled in the New Testament. There’s the familiar one from Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, signifying God with us,” to the less familiar ones like this one from Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life,” as manifested in Matthew 26:28: “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus, Christianity and Judaism, while having their differences, also have deep ties.

Greetings, Rev.

Happy Father's Day! I love dads and I love jokes, so here are a couple dad jokes.
 - What do they call pastors in Germany? German shepherds.
 - What's the best way to get a message to God? A knee-mail.

On this issue are pictures of our Easter egg hunt, a day of worship with the bagpipers (Valley Forge Highland Band), Memorial Garden cleanup (for the interment, below) and security camera installation. 

We also celebrated Gail Dohrn, who passed away in February, and laid her to rest in the Memorial Garden, next to her mother, Janet McIntyre.

Kunwoo, Miyeon, and the girls flew to Korea for three weeks because of Miyeon's brother's wedding. Between the bride and the groom on wedding day vs. grandparents seeing their grandchildren for the first time in nearly two years--who do you think were the happiest?

While Kunwoo's family was in Korea, here at St. Mark's saw the first guest speaker in a few years (Pastor Philip of Cornerstone Church in Broomall). After they returned, the Park family somehow managed to drive over to Wildwood, NJ for the annual conference, despite the jet lag. This year was special because they opted for their youngest, Yina, to be baptized by the bishop. The service was full of special moments; the family will remember that day for years to come.

And then we rounded out the early part of June by celebrating our graduates (pictured is Amelia and Leo receiving prayer) and recognizing the volunteers who serve our church. We also had someone special attend St. Mark's for the very first time--Christopher James Bird, two months old at the time of the picture. He is the son to Bill and Anastasia Bird, and grandson to Len and Jen Sciulli. It certainly is sweet to hold a newborn baby!