All are welcome.
As a diverse community of people drawn together by God’s Spirit, we gladly welcome the gifts of all who join us for worship and witness. In this place for grace, each person’s age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, spirituality, special interests, and unique abilities enrich us as the Body of Christ.
The center of our life together is Jesus Christ, whose love leads us to affirm our common identity as children of God and to work against racism and all forms of bias, which may be systemic, institutional, and/or personal. We believe that God can heal us and all humankind from fear, prejudice and hate, and we invite you to grow with us in love and grace.
St. Mark’s is a Reconciling in Christ congregation.
Our Faith
When Lutherans talk about faith, we are talking about the relationship God’s Holy Spirit creates with us. It’s a relationship where God’s promise of steadfast love and mercy in Jesus opens us to a life of bold trust in God and joyful, generous service to everyone we know and meet in daily life.
Martin Luther was exuberant when he described the freedom of “a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that believers would stake their lives on it a thousand times.” He once wrote, “Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good things unceasingly.”
At the same time faith does not close our minds to the world and our hearts to others. We listen to the witness of others, and we watch for the ways God is active in the world around us. Faith opens a place for engaging others in conversation, for seeking the truth, for asking questions and speaking love in word and deed.
Faith convictions expressed as statements of belief flow from this confident trust in God. Lutherans share in the faith expressed in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. In them, we confess the Triune God, and we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
The Confession of Faith of our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) identifies the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the basis for our teaching. This Confession of Faith is more than just words in an official document. Every Sunday in worship ELCA congregations hear God’s word from the Scriptures, pray as Jesus taught and come to the Lord’s Table expecting to receive the mercies that God promises.
Faith is a full life, liberated for a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.
Core Commitments for Peace and Justice
In our mission to “worship, witness, learn, serve, and reach out,” we seek to live out Jesus’ own ministry of compassion and justice in the world.
Care for the Vulnerable
The scriptures call our attention to the most vulnerable among us. Today: migrants, immigrants and refugees.
Care for the Hungry
The scriptures call us to attend to our neighbors in their most basic needs.
Care for Those on the Margins
The scriptures call us to stand with those marginalized and at risk. Today: those without homes, the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, and immigrants.
Care for the Oppressed
The scriptures call us to name the structures of oppression, and to free those who are oppressed.
Care for Creation
The scriptures call us into healthy partnership with the creation, that we and the creation might nurture one another in wholeness.
Mission, Vision, and Ministry
Mission
We are a people and a place for God’s grace, claimed and called by Jesus Christ to worship, witness, learn, serve, and reach out with words and deeds of love.
Vision
St. Mark’s is a place in which every person is spiritually nourished. St. Mark’s is a congregation in which all persons are active in our mission. St. Mark’s is a church that is connected to the larger, more diverse human community in which we both offer and receive gifts.
Ministry
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We encourage each person to steward the gift of our facility through hands-on care and financial support.
We nurture a congregational culture of hospitality, creating gracious space for people to grow in relationship with God and with one another.
We share our facilities with the broader community, in fitting with our mission.
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We encourage each person to develop a practice of weekly worship and daily prayer.
We provide engaging, renewing worship for all generations, connected to opportunities for hospitality and fellowship.
We extend hospitality to all who come to worship, with particular attention given to those who are not members of our congregation.
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We encourage each person to reflect on ways in which faith is central to their life.
We nurture a congregational culture of holy listening and storytelling.
We share our stories of faith in the broader community, and listen to the diverse stories of those outside the walls of our church.
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We encourage each person to be intentional about their continued formation in the Christian faith.
We nurture a congregational culture that honors and enriches the faith formation of children, youth and adults through cross-generational experiences.
We learn from the skills and stories of those in the broader community, and provide opportunities for congregation and community to learn together.
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We encourage each person to prayerfully consider how their will serve God by sharing their gifts.
We nurture a congregational culture of generosity and humble service.
We care for our broader community and the world God made by living out our baptismal calling in all aspects of our daily life.
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We encourage each person to extend care to those in need, and to receive care during time of need.
We nurture a congregational culture of loving care by providing both formal and informal opportunities to connect to each other in times of sorrow and in times of celebration.
We commit to being a public presence in our community in order to share the love and justice of God with all people.
Covenants of Presence
We seek to create a safe and open place for our learning and growing. For that reason, we have adopted Covenants of Presence as a guide for our sharing and listening to one another. These covenants shape all our gatherings.
Be fully present, extending and presuming welcome. Set aside the usual distractions of things undone from yesterday, things to do tomorrow. Welcome others into this space and presume you are welcome as well.
Listen generously and deeply. We are called both to speak truthfully and to listen without quick answers, advice-giving or shaming. Listen intently to what is said and to the feelings beneath the words.
Author your Story. We all have a story. Claim authorship of your own story and learn to tell it to others so they might understand you, be inspired by you, and discover what calls you to be who you are, to do what you do, or to love what you love.
We come as God’s beloved children. Our diverse gifts, experiences and stories are equally important and will be valued and honored.
Sharing is not mandatory. You will be invited to share, but you will determine the extent to which you want to participate.
Suspend judgment. By creating a trusted space between judgments and reactions, we can listen to one another and to ourselves, so that we can receive one another and express ourselves more honestly and graciously.
Turn to wonder. If you find yourself becoming judgmental or cynical, try turning to wonder: “I wonder why she shared that story or made those choices?” “I wonder what my reaction teaches me?” “I wonder what he’s feeling right now?”
Hold these stories with care. There are many people who will benefit from the stories they hear during our time together. Imagine hearing another as you would listen to Scripture – attentively, mindfully and open to the Holy.
Be mindful and respectful of time. We all have something important to share. The discipline of time invites us to focus and make particular choices about what to share and how much to share so that we might hear the deep longings of another’s soul.
Practice confidentiality care. We create a safe space by respecting the nature and content of the stories heard and keeping them in confidence, unless permission to share is granted by the storyteller.
Welcome discomfort and dislocation. In the midst of new and uncomfortable places and the company of strangers, move against an instinct to construct a mental space of safety or to check out.
Value Diversity. We understand that human diversity is an expression of God’s creative presence. Knowing that the church has often marginalized and caused harm to people who are different, we will seek to identify and interrupt expressions of harmful bias when it occurs among us, and will take time to name, listen and take steps toward healing.
Love the questions themselves. Let your questions linger. Release the compulsion to answer them or to have them answered.
Believe that it is possible for us to emerge from our time together refreshed, surprised, and less burdened than when we came.