St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Mark Allen King
September 12, 1961 – February 9, 2009

Mark King died four months ago. Here at St. Paul’s we were stunned to hear the news, brought to us by his friends, many of whom attend the HOT Lunch program. In particular, his friend Mike O’Donnell was able to get us in touch with Mark’s family, and we decided that we should celebrate his life, right now. We, his church community, really need to say good-by to Mark, and to acknowledge what a special person he was to us.

Mark’s life was always a bit of a mystery to us. He dropped into our midst about four years ago, and taught us many things about street smarts, survival, and turning your life around. When Mark started attending church here, he was a resident of the Refuge of Hope, a homeless shelter that is within walking distance. At the shelter, he was a permanent resident with managerial duties, including running the kitchen and serving meals to those less fortunate than even himself. He acquainted us with the needs at the Refuge of Hope, and several times we gathered items for donation, including food, toiletries, and paper products. Mark showed me around the Refuge once, and pointed out where his bed was – in a small room, right behind the altar in the worship area. He lived in holy space.

The details of his early life are not all that clear to us, but here is what I have pieced together, from conversations with Mark himself in the past, with his friends, and in particular, with his step sister, Sherry King Swindell of Akron. Mark was born in 1961 at Mercy Timken Hospital, the son of Susan Cincinat and her husband Mr. Cincinat, so Mark’s first name was Mark Cincinat. His mother divorced and married Richard King, who adopted Mark and gave him the last name King. Mr. King had other children, so Mark had several step-siblings: the aforementioned Sherry of Akron, Cindy Fink of Akron, Teresa Lee of South Carolina, and Herbert King of Ocala FL. This blended family lived in North Canton, on Lindy Lane, and Mark graduated from Hoover High School in 1980. He served four years in the United States Navy. He married, and he and his wife Cheryl lived in Louisiana, and later divorced. There were no children. He held various jobs, and worked at one time for Radio Shack.

While living in North Canton, Mark attended the Lutheran Church that was right across the street. When he came to St. Paul’s, the Episcopal rites seemed familiar and comfortable to him. But what really brought him into the church was the community, how accepting the people were. Within a month of my coming here, in February 2006, I was told that he wanted to join the church. This was accomplished on Sept. 10, 2006, when Bishop Mark Hollingsworth came here to officially install me as rector. At the same service, Bishop Mark also officially received Mark King into the Episcopal Church. Our Mark was jubilant.

Mark lived on the edge in many ways, most notably about his health. He was born with a heart condition called Marfans Syndrome. This disease can take many forms, but in Mark’s case, it brought him an aortic aneurysm which leaked, putting his life in jeopardy. He described one harrowing trip to the Cleveland Clinic where he had emergency surgery and nearly died. While he was with us, Mark was always aware that he could die any time. We assume that this heart disease was the underlying cause of his death.

Last year Mark was finally able to convince the Social Security office that he was disabled, and last November he collected considerable disability back pay. This enabled him to live better – he was able to get his own apartment, buy a car, and we don’t know what all else, because he disappeared from our lives then. We hoped he was living well and enjoying life. Off and on, we were able to keep in touch with Mark through his e-mail, which he accessed at the library. His e-mail addresses, all at Yahoo.com, give you a feel for his personality: Mark61King (61 is the year of his birth), Mark King rocks, and Mark King the gypsy.

While Mark was active here, he had a lively curiosity and worked hard to learn more about the faith. He joined three different educational groups – the Bible study that meets each Sunday morning, the Wednesday morning study group that discusses books, and the intensive theological training course, Education For Ministry, or EFM, an extension course from the University of the South. The last-named group met weekly, and the last time we had Mark in our midst, in November, he designed a worship experience for us, honoring a poet he admired, John Donne, a 17th century poet and priest. Mark was especially fond of two poems – one of which you heard Elizabeth Mapp read, “Death Be Not Proud,” and the other is on the back of your worship booklet, entitled “Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God.” Mark was very sensitive to language and poetic nuance. John Donne’s poetry thrilled him.

Mark wrote poetry of his own, in an attempt to come to terms with the events and conditions of his life. In 2006 our Episcopal Diocese had a poetry project and sought submissions from Episcopalians in the Diocese of Ohio. Mark was thrilled when nine of his poems were accepted and published. All nine of those poems, and three others that he sent me by e-mail, are included in your worship booklet. I urge you to keep this booklet. Mark would want you to have it. The poems show many facets of his life, and his writing is often beautiful and haunting. When you read them, you will get a better sense of who he was. I have included all of the poems, uncensored. This is our Mark.

Mark was fond of cats, and shared his apartment with several who wandered through. One of our photos shows him with Midnite, a black cat he cared for and brought to our Animal Blessing. Mark participated in our worship services from the pews, but also he was often up here, around the altar, serving as an acolyte and helping with communion. He also took communion out to homebound parishioners and others of his acquaintance. He brought many newcomers into our midst and taught us about different lifestyles.

At one point, a couple of years ago, Mark thought he needed a change of scenery and decided to go to Nashville. We wished him well, and we didn’t hear anything for quite a while. But apparently his contacts there were undependable, and Mark changed his mind and came back to Canton. We were delighted to have him back. He was a major worker for many of our efforts here, notably the HOT Lunch program. Anything we did, Mark was here. I looked around for him especially this past March, when we had a special worship service honoring his favorite poet, John Donne. Now, of course, I know why he did not attend.

We will miss Mark greatly. He brought joy and spontaneity to us, enthusiasm and yearning, faith in action. I picked these particular readings that you heard today, because they all reminded me of Mark. The first one describes the heavenly banquet, a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines. Mark was always ready for a party, for good food, for wine, for fellowship. I can see him now on the holy mountain, throwing off the shroud of death and celebrating with the heavenly host.

The Psalm which we all read together is especially appropriate, because Mark moved around a lot. The psalm writer says to God, “You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways.” Mark traveled the world with the navy. The psalm continues, “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me and your right hand hold me fast.” Wherever Mark went, God was with him, and Mark knew it. His faith was honest and trusting.

I chose the reading from Revelation because of its beautiful poetry. In the heavenly court, the writer has a vision of the New Jerusalem, and listens to a loud voice from the throne that says, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” I can see Mark right there, pen in hand, ready to write these important words: God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” Mark’s thirst for God has been sated.

The two poems by John Donne, so beloved by Mark, tell us a lot about his faith also. John Donne wrote that death was a big fake – overblown, not nearly as important as it thinks it is. Besides, he writes, “one short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more. Death, thou shalt die!” So there! The final poem, “Batter my heart,” is very poignant when we consider that Mark lived his whole life in the shadow of heart disease. The poem says, “Batter my heart!” and describes an almost violent encounter with God, a passionate longing to be in God’s embrace.

The Gospel reading is likewise poignant. Jesus goes to visit Mary and Martha, whose brother Lazarus has just died. Martha says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This reading tugs at my heart strings, because we were not there when Mark died. But Jesus has the answer for Martha, and for us. He tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” And we answer, yes, we do. And we know that our brother Mark has been taken into that place where there is no pain or sorrow, no tears or anxiety, but peace for ever more.

Let us give Mark the last word. This is his poem on page 27 of your booklet, a poem that was published in our newsletter last year. It is quiet and confident:

Till We Meet Again

God’s counsel guides
and upholds you

When peril confounds
put his arm around you

Keep love’s banner over you
let no ill power find place

Till we meet again
at Jesus’ feet

May God be with you.