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Welcome to St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Join us at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in downtown Beaumont, Texas.
Episcopalians believe the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
We believe that the Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel and promotes justice, peace and love. We believe that the Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.
For Your Children
The Nursery is available for newborns through age three from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. All older children are welcome and encouraged to share worship with you. Children’s Sunday School is at 9:00 a.m. upstairs in the main building.
Prayer
Intercessory Prayer Teams are available in the Chapel and Baptistry, which are on the sides of the main seating area, during the communion time. The Daughters of the King offer confidential intercessory prayer, just fill out one of the blue cards in the pew book holder and place it in the alms basin.
Communion
Communion is open to all baptized Christians. For Communion, hold out your hands to receive the bread. You may also receive the wine, or simply cross your arms across your chest and a prayer will be offered for you.
Almighty and ever-living God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen our faith, arouse the careless and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Mission Statement
St. Mark's Church affirms our love of Christ through worship, education and service.
Core Values
Giving all to the glory of God, St. Mark's affirms and values:
Worship
Our worship of the Trinity is expressed in the Word and Sacraments according to the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It is enhanced by traditional architecture and sacred liturgical music: ancient and modern.
Outreach
We sponsor multiple ministries for those in spiritual, emotional or physical need, whether on the margins of life in our downtown or others in the wider Beaumont community.
Education
Christian education at St. Mark's enables our children to find joy in spiritual growth, our youth to find relevance in the Gospel message and adults to engage the life of the mind which feeds the spirit.
Stewardship
We strive to be faithful stewards of our time, talents and treasures for the ultimate glory of God, the growth of his Kingdom and as an example to others.
Fellowship
We are a community whose relationship with each other is centered on our common faith in God and His Son. We provide a Christian refuge and pastoral care for all who wish to share this fellowship of the Holy Spririt.
Vision Statement 2007
In support of our core values and to accomplish our mission, St. Mark's Church proclaims its vision as a community which will:
In a systematic way, show hospitality and care for visitors, newcomers and all members
of our congregation.
Create new programs to educate, mentor and foster leadership among us.
Publish news of St. Mark's activities and invite all to participate.
Expand St. Mark's ministries to the wider community.
St. Mark's History
In 1877 six people signed and sent a letter to the first Episcopal Bishop of Texas, the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, D.D., requesting that the Episcopal Church of America be established in Beaumont, Texas. Within the next two years, under the Bishop’s direction, Archdeacon Rev. Edwin Wickens was sent to Beaumont to establish the Mission of the Good Shepherd. By 1879 laypersons were leading services in various halls and a Methodist church, confirmation classes were started and a vestry was elected. In 1880 the vestry voted to change the name of the Mission to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and in 1883 the parishioners began raising money for a building to be erected. In 1899 a red brick church was completed on the corner of Forsythe and Orleans. The Beaumont Enterprise said the church was, “the handsomest church edifice in the city.” In 1900 the church had 200 communicants. The founders of St. Mark’s established a strong choir program and purchased an organ and vestments. They established women’s and children’s programs, the Daughters of the King, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, sponsored the first Boy Scout Troop in Beaumont and established other missions. By 1913 the church had outgrown its space and during a parish meeting voted to sell their current church and purchase property on the corner of Pearl and Calder where St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is today.
St. Mark’s today is a warm and welcoming community of faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Like our founders, today’s parishioners value our children, our music, our traditions, our worship and our outreach. Many of the programs established in the early 1900s are still part of St. Mark’s today. We place a high value on serving our community as well as committing ourselves to becoming nurturing and mature Christian Disciples.
The Episcopal Church
A THINKING PERSON'S CHURCH:
The Episcopal Church is particularly suited for those people who like to think for themselves and like to make up their own minds. In the Episcopal Church the priest does not preach at or talk down to the people in the pews. Instead the priest invites the people to think with him or her. As a result the Episcopal Church is a church of dialogue in which people are encouraged to make their own faith journeys. The clergy and other members of the congregation are there to support the person and to share their experiences with the person. But in the end the individual makes his or her decision in the faith journey.
HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH:
Decisions are made by a conscientious examination of three different elements:
1) Scripture, 2) Tradition and 3) Reason. To these three elements a fourth is often added: Experience. For example, the issue of infant Baptism which is practiced in the Anglican Communion. In making the decision to baptize infants, the Church first looked to Scripture. The New Testament tells us that entire families were baptized which would have included infants. Tradition tells us that the Church continued this practice because of the high infant mortality rate. Reason and Experience tell us that God adopts us as children of God not by anything we know or do, but by God's grace alone. Hence scripture, tradition, reason and experience support infant Baptism, and it is incorporated into the life of the Anglican Communion.
A WORLDWIDE CHURCH:
The Episcopal Church in the United States of America is part of the Anglican Church or Anglican Communion---the worldwide Church of England. The Episcopal Church is one of the 38 independent, self-governing, national and regional churches which make up the Anglican Communion. There are some 70 million Anglicans representing a variety of races, languages, cultures and political conditions. We include more than 64,000 congregations in 164 countries.
GOD'S GRACE BESTOWED THROUGH WORD AND SACRAMENT:
Episcopalians believe that God's grace (God's love, blessing, forgiveness) is given through God's Word (the Bible) and through receiving the Sacraments. As one hears and reads the Bible, that person is enlightened and thereby receives God's blessing. As one hears the Bible read in worship and hears biblical teachings in sermons and classes, that person is enlightened and receives God's blessing. In addition God's grace is given by receiving the Sacraments (visible signs and acts which transmit God's blessing). There are two major sacraments: Baptism and the Holy Eucharist (Communion) and five lesser sacraments: Confirmation, Marriage, Penance (Confession of Sin and Absolution), Unction (Anointing the sick with oil and the Laying on of Hands for Healing) and Ordination (the grace of God given to those being ordained to become ministers in the Church).
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Beaumont, Texas, Welcomes You!
History excerpted from History of St.Mark's Parish Beaumont, Texas: 1930
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