My name is Jeanne Flynn, and I have been a member of St. Mark’s since 1993. I am married to

Michael, and we have one daughter, Rebecca (Becca) who is 29. We are all in the beginning stages

of planning Becca’s wedding, who became engaged on 12/6/25. I am currently teaching 8th grade

confirmation and am involved with the Children, Youth & Family Committee, McCleery School,

VBS, the Seeker’s women’s group and providing office coverage. Michael and I also support many

outreach programs and feel that this is one of the areas in which we are called to serve. Included

in this has been recent activity with social justice activity and protest over immigration issues.

As a tenured member of St. Mark’s and, with a social worker’s training and skill, I believe I

contribute to council through my gift of discernment and my ability to relationship build. I am

excited to see how and where St. Mark’s will continue to grow, and I want to be part of this

forward movement. With the addition of Pastor Krista and Deacon David, I have been involved

in a number of new and creative additions to worship and our children’s ministry and have found

them refreshing and renewing. St. Mark’s potential is yet to be realized, and I am invested in

continuing to be an active part in working towards it.

My family has been attending St. Mark’s since 2015 and we became members in 2018. My

wife, Alisa, and I have four kids, three of which are now confirmed members, one is an active

member of the youth group and one is active in the confirmation process. 2026 will be my

fifth year as the Council treasurer, sixth year on council and will finish my third and final two year term. You can usually find me and my family supporting Saturday night worship. I’ve also

been helping on the Stewardship committee, the property team, the endowment committee

and I am currently one of three individuals who puts the building to sleep every night. What

we love about St Mark’s more than anything is the people and the sense of community.

I became a member of the Council in January 2025. Not only has 2025 flown, but we have had

a lot of new positive changes at St Mark’s. The new year started out with the goal of finding a

Pastor for St Mark’s, and our prayers were answered two-fold. Not only did we get a new

Pastor, but we also got a Deacon! I am overjoyed that we found the perfect team to lead us. A

lot of good things are already happening since their installation in October, from the St Mark’s

Play Group hosted by Deacon David to the Evening Adult Education hosted by Pastor Krista. I

can attest to the Evening Adult Education sessions with Pastor Krista have been very

informational and uplifting. One of the things I like is Deacon David at the Prayground in the

sanctuary teaching the sermon to the littles attending service. What an awesome way to

include them!

I am Cassie Blickem, and I am married to John Blickem. We have two children. Louie is 19 years

old and Russell is 16 years old, both confirmed at St. Mark’s. We’ve attended St. Mark’s for over

10 years. I lead the FDL class for the 4th and 5th graders on Wednesday nights and often

volunteer for the Hesed House PADS dinner.

My name is Gena Gerdin, and I have been a member of St. Mark’s since 2021. I grew up in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin and we moved to Illinois 30 years ago. My husband Duane and I have

been together for 40 years, and my family includes two stepchildren and a wonderful group of

grandchildren. At St. Mark’s, I currently serve on the Outreach Committee and volunteer with

VBS, PADs dinners, and the LSSI Mobile Food Pantry, I accompanied our youth on their

week-long mission trip last summer and I’ve also taught Sunday School at St. Mark’s. Outside of

church, I am a CASA volunteer advocating for abused and neglected children in the court system,

and for the past 17 years I have led the weekly Harvesting Hope children’s program at Hesed

House homeless shelter. After retiring from a career in risk management, I now devote much of

my time to volunteer work. I bring to Council a strong commitment to service, outreach, and

thoughtful decision-making, along with a deep desire to support St. Mark’s mission and

community.

My name is Matt Greising. My family joined St. Mark's in 2001. My wife, Faith, and I have

three daughters and four grandchildren. On Church Council I coordinate the Property Team

and provide support for our online presence. In addition to Council responsibilities, I play with

the Glory Ringers handbell choir because I enjoy making music with an amazing team. I am also

a member of the group that bakes the bread we use for Communion because it is so gratifying

to be able to literally feed my church family.

St. Mark's is blessed with members who are caring and committed to sharing Christ's love with

each other and the community around us. I am blessed to be a member.

My name is Gregg Kobliska. I have been a member at St. Mark's since 2007. I live in Sugar

Grove with my wife Lorrie. We have 5 children and 9 grandchildren, most of whom live out of

state. When we first joined St. Mark's, Lorrie got involved with teaching FDL and I became

involved with the Property Team. After I retired, I worked at St. Mark's as the Facility Manager

until Lorrie retired in 2014. After that, I filled in during the summers for a number of years as

needed. Working in this capacity was a great way to get to know our facility, as well as many of

the parishioners at St. Mark's. I still am active on the Property Team and in 2024. I am very

aware of the need to serve our homebound and sick parishioners, which is especially true with

our aging congregation. Trying to help serve the needs of the church and our congregation

continues to be very personally fulfilling. I look forward to continuing to serve and contribute in

whatever way I am called to at St. Mark’s

My name is Mary Mandel, and I became a member of St. Mark’s in 2009 when I was

pregnant with my oldest son. I am married to Craig and we have three boys, Aidan (15),

Ethan (13) and Ryan (10). The areas that I am most passionate about at St. Mark’s are the RIC

Team where we have made significant strides over the past several years in becoming a

much more outwardly welcoming congregation, and Youth and Family Ministry. I am

currently teaching confirmation but have taught Sunday School for many years and help with

VBS in the summer. I also occasionally play violin in worship, alone and with my family.

I believe that my gifts to council are my ability to listen to many sides and help mediate to a

resolution (as a teacher that is a necessary skill to have). I am a positive person, and I am also

very driven as well. I am used to working with many different people and am confident that

our council is moving in a solid direction to a common goal. St. Mark’s is in a good place right

now and is healing, and I am proud to be a part of that process as a part of church council.

Hello, my name is Melvin Smith. I have been a member of St. Mark’s for approximately

twenty-two years. My daughter Tatyanna was attending St. Mark’s preschool at the time, and

she told me that the Pastor from the church would come over with his guitar and sing with the

children. That is when I started attending St. Mark’s.

I have previously served two terms on council several years ago. I was mostly involved with

the hospitality teams for about ten years. I also taught confirmation classes as well.

I am currently a member of the Glory Ringers and a member of the AV team. I also serve on

the Worship and Arts committee, as well as the RIC committee. This past summer I worked

with a small group of people to update the St. Mark’s Constitution for submission to the

Chicago Metro Synod.

I look forward to giving my best effort and contributing all I can to the congregation of St.

Mark’s.

I have been at St. Mark’s since the beginning of March 2025. I have been a pastor for 15

years. I graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 2010 with my Master

of Divinity. In 2006 I graduated from Houghton University in New York State with a Bachelor

of Arts in Communications. I grew up in Rochester, NY before coming to the Midwest. I’ve

been in and around the Chicago area for 20 years now and it feels like home. Especially since

my parents live in Naperville and my sister and her family live in DeKalb. I live right in the

middle- Sugar Grove. I love being a pastor but my favorite title is aunt! I am proud to serve a

congregation that is serious about living out our mission to "share Christ's abundant love

with each other and the world." In the past 10 months, I have enjoyed working with our

dedicated and faithful council. We have gotten a lot of work done to help the ministry of the

congregation run smoother including updating the constitution, re-working how we run our

council meetings, updating our personnel policy and much more. It’s really incredible how

much we have accomplished and I’m excited to work with our leadership in continuing to

live into our mission pillars in 2026!  Click here to email Pastor Krista.  Phone: 630-897-6891, ext. 101