Visitor Information

St. Mark's Mission Statement
To change lives by proclaiming the love of Christ through worship, education and service.

The Episcopal Church: Who We Are
The Episcopal Church is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, with 70 million members in 163 countries. We are a community of Christians bound together by our belief that Holy Scripture contains the very core of all Christian faith. Through the many ancient, as well as modern, stories that connect us to Jesus and his teachings, we discover daily God's hope and call to us in our life together:
- Worship and church programs
- Reaching out to the community
- Sharing our story with others
- Seeking God's love together in study and prayer
- Giving our means and talents to the greater purpose of God's work

History
In 1877 six people signed and sent a letter to the first Episcopal Bishop of Texas, The Right Reverend 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 The Reverend 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. Andrews, 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. 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 Christian Disciples.

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 here for support and to share their experiences, but in the end the individual makes his or her own 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 diverse variety of races, languages, cultures, and political conditions. We include more than 64,000 congregations in 164 countries.

God's Grace bestowed through Sacrament and Word: 
Episcopalians believe that God's grace (God's love, blessing, forgiveness) is given through God's Word (the Bible) and through the receiving of 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).

The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!