St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
THE
M ESSENGER OCTOBER 20, 2010
VOLUME 99
ISSUE 10
Your Vestry at Work by The Rev. Mike Chalk
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Outreach News Music from St. Mark’s Youth News
O
n my sabbatical I had the opportunity to study with Peter Steinke, an internationally respected authority on congregational development. He highly recommended a monograph by Jim Collins, entitled Good to Great and the Social Sectors. Some of you may be familiar with Collins’ larger body of work with corporations, helping them to define and refine their mission to make the move from being a good organization to a great one. This shorter work relates some of Collins’ concepts to the work of non-profits and churches. On Saturday, September 18th, your Vestry and clergy met to begin Collins’ process for identifying the core vocation of St. Mark’s—recognizing and naming the things we are most passionate about, and do excellently. While our mission and vision statements have effectively guided our decision-making process for years, this work was intended to energize and sharpen our sense of our vocation as Christ’s body in San Antonio. Your Vestry worked hard and with considerable enthusiasm as we focused especially upon what draws younger people into the church. What are their passions and needs that overlap with our core vocations?
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 315 E. Pecan St. San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 226-2426 www.stmarks-sa.org
One passion of many people concerns the future of our children and grandchildren. Many of us hope that the church, with God’s help, will create a better future for them. We want our children to be able to live well in a world made up of all kinds of people.
We want our church to be a means of justice, and to address the well-being of the planet. Adults want to learn to be models of spiritual growth for children, so that they will have a sense of what an authentic spiritual journey looks like. Many younger adults also have a passion for finding meaning in a world that often seems chaotic and void of meaning. In this context, the church can become a place that addresses the human search for meaning with wisdom, faithfulness and a sense of our rich history. An aspect of this search includes connecting what is larger than the self: to experience the transcendent God. This human quest is the way in which people develop over time, the quality that younger adults call “authenticity.” As our conversation unfolded, we recognized a related passion: to be a part of a community of support. Many younger adults are looking for a community that shares their values, a community that helps raise children well, and a community that is actively present during times of doubt and uncertainty. Finally, we realized that another passion cuts across all of our age-groups: a commitment to excellence in everything we do as a parish. We invite your responses to the work your Vestry has done so far. Our hope is that, through this conversation with you, God will empower us to realize the vision that is God’s own for us.