Blessings Are Meant To Be Shared
When Sally Ehlert moved to Des Moines in 1969, she knew she was looking for a church family. She and her husband, Gene, had just welcomed their first child and wanted to find a church where they could share their gifts. When she found St. Mark, “We felt a sense of belonging and we felt God’s spirit and a Christian enthusiasm here.”
Fifty-three years later, the St. Mark community is still an important part of Sally’s life. Sally vividly remembers being greeted by John and Joan Conyers. “I always hoped that Gene and I could be as welcoming as they were and could make others feel at home here as time went on.”
Membership at St. Mark sparked conversation about generosity in the Ehlert house. “I learned financial generosity primarily from Gene,” said Sally. “He always said ‘we can’t out-give God.’” That has been a passion of Sally’s throughout her life – intentionally finding ways for blessings to be shared. By offering her time, talent and treasure to the ministry of St. Mark, she has found ways to continue to bless others in the same way God has blessed her.
Sally shared words of encouragement for those who might now be looking for the home she found at St. Mark. “It would be my hope that the next generation at St. Mark would feel a responsibility to individually be ambassadors for St. Mark,” reflected Ehlert, “that they might continue to build on similar Christian values and experiences.”