A Word from the Pastor

“St. Mark Presbyterian Church is a traditional, friendly church – cultivating our relationships with God as we cultivate our relationships with each other. We believe in caring for and supporting one another, and deepening our faith through the active use of our time, talents and treasures.” St. Mark Mission Study Report

The Mission Study Team has completed their work and released their report to the Session and congregation. The MST, which includes Jan Boehme, Debbie Brown, Bob Lienemann, Kim Michel, John Northrip, Jean Steward, and Sharon Yoder, has produced an informative and enlightening Mission Study Report. The Mission Study Team’s hope was to paint a clear picture of where this church has been, where it is today, and how God might be leading St. Mark into the future.

One of the goals of the Mission Study process was to help St. Mark gain clarity about its core values. When the Mission Study Team analyzed the responses from the Congregational Conversations and the Congregational Surveys, four significant values emerged and seem to shape this church’s identity: traditional, friendly, caring, and active. The identification of these values will be the launching point for St. Mark to embrace a new beginning by creating a unified vision for ministry and calling a new installed pastor.

I invite you to read the Mission Study Report. It has been emailed to all who are in email contact with

St. Mark; the Mission Study Report is also available on the church website http://www.discoverstmark.org/about-us/discerning-god-at-work/, or can be requested from the

church office. The next step will be for the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy to approve the Mission Study Report later this summer. Once they do, St. Mark will be able to form a Pastor Nominating Committee and begin the search for an installed pastor, most likely in October.

I want to personally thank the Mission Study Team for all of their hard work and their thoughtful and prayerful approach to this task. I would also like to thank all of those who participated in the Congregational Conversations and the Congregational Surveys – it was a privilege to hear the many heartfelt remembrances, proud accomplishments, common strengths of this congregation. It was also refreshing to hear the candid, sometimes painful, assessment of deficiencies. All necessary steps in creating a spirit-filled vision for the future.

The Mission Study Team has had the rare opportunity to review the thoughts, attitudes, and experiences of our church. This Mission Study Report is a tool for the Session, and the congregation, to foster conversations throughout the church that will develop into a unified vision for ministry in St. Mark’s next 50 years.