August 10, 2021
August 10, 2021
This is the tribute that my husband shared at the memorial service.
I appreciated many things about Pop King. His gracious hospitality always made people feel welcome. His appreciation and enthusiasm for God’s creation, especially BIRDS, could inspire almost anyone to stop, listen, or just give thanks. His joyful, passionate appreciation for music (classical, Russian choral, Church hymns or chorales) amounted to more than listening, leading, or even performing the music he loved – Pop experienced the music, and he loved to invite others into that experience, to enjoy it with him. I bet many of us could close our eyes right now and picture him passionately conducting along with a recording of Russian choral music (And likewise, knowing that the volume would be turned up so loud that the low, low Bass part might be causing tectonic plate shift or some other seismic event).
But I believe what I most appreciated about Pop was the way he actively and thoughtfully valued others in relationship. Through words and actions and overall generosity, he constantly communicated to people in his life – “You are important to me; our relationship is important.”
He invested in our lives by constantly making it a point to find out what mattered to us, what we liked. Then, he would make the effort to include that in his priorities and plans while together. He would bring people their favorite pastry, delivering good coffee, bringing special gifts for people…just because. It wasn’t necessarily because of a particular occasion. It was just Pop being himself, thoughtfully and actively showing love through his characteristic relational hospitality.
He showed such grace and kindness to me. He unselfishly made his home a place of refuge for me, to rest and retreat when I was tired or stressed out from Pastoral ministry. He made sure I knew, every time I visited, that he wanted me to feel free to simply “be” – with no expectations.
I believe Pop actively lived out the message of 1 John 3:18 where it says, “Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” And in Verse 23, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
And I like to think that Pop also lived out the South African mindset of Ubuntu – that says, People are meant to exist in community. We live with a true sense of personhood because of our interconnectedness with other people. It’s living with a sense that “I am the person I am because of who you are.” About Mark King’s impact in our lives, perhaps you can say, as I know I can say with loving gratitude – “In some deeply important ways, I am who I am today are because of who he was.”
Dave Klingensmith Jr.
I appreciated many things about Pop King. His gracious hospitality always made people feel welcome. His appreciation and enthusiasm for God’s creation, especially BIRDS, could inspire almost anyone to stop, listen, or just give thanks. His joyful, passionate appreciation for music (classical, Russian choral, Church hymns or chorales) amounted to more than listening, leading, or even performing the music he loved – Pop experienced the music, and he loved to invite others into that experience, to enjoy it with him. I bet many of us could close our eyes right now and picture him passionately conducting along with a recording of Russian choral music (And likewise, knowing that the volume would be turned up so loud that the low, low Bass part might be causing tectonic plate shift or some other seismic event).
But I believe what I most appreciated about Pop was the way he actively and thoughtfully valued others in relationship. Through words and actions and overall generosity, he constantly communicated to people in his life – “You are important to me; our relationship is important.”
He invested in our lives by constantly making it a point to find out what mattered to us, what we liked. Then, he would make the effort to include that in his priorities and plans while together. He would bring people their favorite pastry, delivering good coffee, bringing special gifts for people…just because. It wasn’t necessarily because of a particular occasion. It was just Pop being himself, thoughtfully and actively showing love through his characteristic relational hospitality.
He showed such grace and kindness to me. He unselfishly made his home a place of refuge for me, to rest and retreat when I was tired or stressed out from Pastoral ministry. He made sure I knew, every time I visited, that he wanted me to feel free to simply “be” – with no expectations.
I believe Pop actively lived out the message of 1 John 3:18 where it says, “Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” And in Verse 23, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”
And I like to think that Pop also lived out the South African mindset of Ubuntu – that says, People are meant to exist in community. We live with a true sense of personhood because of our interconnectedness with other people. It’s living with a sense that “I am the person I am because of who you are.” About Mark King’s impact in our lives, perhaps you can say, as I know I can say with loving gratitude – “In some deeply important ways, I am who I am today are because of who he was.”
Dave Klingensmith Jr.