Mission and Ministry
Mission
As Episcopalians, we believe that God's mission in the world is to reconcile the world to God. That being true, the mission of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The church pursues that mission through prayer and worship, proclamation of the Gospel, and promotion of justice, peace and love (BCP, 855). This is our organizing and guiding principle.
For each congregation, the question then becomes how we are to participate in God's mission in the world, the restoration of all people to unity with God and each other, in this time and place. Who are we? Who is our neighbor? What is God calling us to be and do? Our continual struggle with these questions informs our activities, in setting priorities for our inner maintenance and our ministries in the congregation and in the world outside our walls. This involves understanding and honoring the particular values that we hold in common and articulating, from time to time, our vision of what we hope to be. Our culture of discipleship, or way of being, is central to who we are, and our choices about discipleship are informed by the particular values and vision that are, to a certain extent, unique to St. Mark's.
Values
Many of our values are self-evident and presumably shared by most congregations in the Episcopal Church and other faith communities as well: worship, fellowship, generosity and service, for example. Others are especially prominent here and provide guidance for our work in the parish, the community and the world. In particular:
- We affirm that the Good News of the Gospel is intended for all people;
- We value differing points of view and respect a variety of perspectives. Accordingly, we take time for discussion and reflection before making decisions at every level. The development of this parish profile is a prime example;
- We appreciate our Anglican tradition. This is reflected in our worship, music and celebrations;
- We value differing gifts, backgrounds and lifestyles;
- We attach importance to lay participation and leadership and seek to develop it in all our work;
- We value children and youth, and families of every kind;
- We are mindful of our Lord's commandment to love our neighbor, and we therefore value pastoral care and generosity of spirit.
Ministry
Our ministry priorities and choices reflect these values, as well as our understanding of God's mission and the mission of the church in the world. We are aware that we have an internal structure requiring careful maintenance and absorbing much time and energy. We take care of our staff, physical plant and artwork, tenants, finances and communication requirements, and are currently involved in plans to redevelop portions of our property.
The Spoken Word Committee presents "The Second Shepherds' Play"
We maintain a website and a Facebook page, and our weekly electronic newsletter, the Lion's Cub, keeps parishioners informed of activities and issues, as does The Lion, our monthly communication. All of this involves many committees meeting regularly, as well as extraordinary individual efforts, and moves our internal work forward in an organized and thoughtful way.
The Latin root of "ministry" is "minister," meaning servant. The common meaning of the verb "to minister" is to attend to the wants and needs of others, and to the extent that maintenance of parish business does that, it is all ministry. It provides the platform upon which stand ways of addressing the needs of people, those in the parish and those in the wider community, and the needs of the environment. Our worship guilds, choir, adult and child formation programs, theology discussion group, women's group, vestry circles, family programs, lay pastoral ministry, congregational discernment committee, and frequent Sunday after-worship forums provide primarily for those who are at St. Mark's on a regular basis. The monthly Evensong and organ recital series during the academic year, and periodic presentations by the "Spoken Word" theater group, are popular with the wider community as well as the parish. Our coffee hours, receptions, greeter and newcomer ministries all focus on welcoming and hospitality.
In regard to the community outside our walls, we visit nursing homes regularly; feed over 170 people a hot meal once each month; cook for a youth shelter; and host a street youth clinic every Monday evening. We are regularly involved in social justice and resource conservation efforts and take up a special collection each month for various community organizations. In addition, many of our members are involved in community work independent of the parish. We are seeking to learn more about how we might better support such efforts. There is also interest in developing social justice projects supported by the parish as a whole.
Preparing bagged dinners for the overflow people at Hot Meals.
Convalescent Home Ministry - On the first and third Sundays of the month, parishioners take the Eucharist to the Berkeley Pines Nursing Home.
During this interim period, we are looking anew at how to live out our vocation to be the people of God in a changing world. Sometimes we feel as if we are waking up to a new identity as the body of Christ. Discipleship is a continual and challenging process and demands awareness of and sensitivity to our rapidly changing social and cultural context. We are eager to continue engaging this process with our new rector.
A comprehensive list of current ministries follows.
Internal/maintenance ministries–keeping us going and our affairs in order
- Vestry
- Stewardship
- Physical plant and grounds management
- Tenant relations
- Financial management: treasurer, financial oversight committee, counters, check signers
- Communications: website; weekly and monthly electronic and paper newsletters; a Facebook page
- Redevelopment/architecture project
- Arts committee
Ministries that serve the congregation, visitors and newcomers
- Worship/Liturgical roles: ushers and greeters; LEMs and LEVs; flower guild; acolytes; crucifers; readers and bidders; altar guild. (Representatives of these guilds, plus several at large members, meet regularly as the worship committee)
- Choir, choir board and choristers
- Adult formation committee
- Theology discussion group
- Women's support group
- Vestry circles
- Family and children's programs, including nursery and Godly Play
- Lay pastoral ministry
- Congregational discernment committee (formerly congregational vocations committee)
- Hospitality and newcomers ministry
- Coffee hours and receptions
- Liturgical planning group
- One-week summer service camp for children 8 and older
- Website focused on church seekers; weekly e-mails of announcements to parishioners; paper service bulletins; monthly reflective newsletter in both print and e-format
Ministries that attract and serve the larger community as well as members of the congregation
- Evensong, organ recitals and concerts
- Spoken Word group
- Prayer shawl ministry
Social groups that build community and may serve a ministry function from time to time
- Movie, book and bridge groups
Ministries that reach into the larger community
- Social concerns committee
- Hot Meals for the Hungry (monthly)
- Cooking for the YEAH shelter
- Hosting the Suitcase Clinic (weekly)
- In-As-Much-collection for social outreach ministries (monthly)
- Nursing home ministry
- Deanery/Diocesan Convention delegation