As a congregation of the United Church of Canada, St. Mark’s is firmly rooted in the traditions of the Protestant Reformation.  Among other things, this means that we are a “Trinitarian” church worshipping God in the three expressions or persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Typically our services are traditional but spirited, based on a biblical theme and generally follow the lessons prescribed by the three year Revised Common Lectionary.

Children are an important part of our worshipping community and attend the first part of each service before departing for Sunday School after the children’s hymn and story time.

Time of Worship

Worship Service is every Sunday at 10:30 am.

Sacraments

We recognize two sacraments given to us and mandated by Christ himself: Baptism and the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Of Baptism the risen Christ said:

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Go then and make people my disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

It is within our tradition to baptize both infant children and adults.  Requests for baptism should be made through the Minister.  However, the Board of each church exercises oversight over the sacramental life of the congregation, and will usually approve each request for baptism.

The sacrament of Communion or the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Jesus who said,

“Do this in remembrance of me”.

We typically come to our Lord’s table in worship quarterly or four times per year.

Sermons

Protestant worship tends to value and emphasize good preaching and the proclamation of the word.  Sermons are usually ten to fifteen minutes long.

There are basically three types of sermons: doctrinal, topical and expository.  A doctrinal sermon concerns itself with some tenet of established Christian teaching.  A topical sermon will address some burning contemporary issue, social concern or current event.  An expository sermon begins by explaining the biblical text and seeking to make it relevant to the context in which we live today.  While the preacher is not bound to any one type or style, and may well use a variety of approaches to worship, the expository is probably the most common type of sermon you can expect to hear at St. Mark’s.

You can also read our sermons on this website.

Music

Not everybody listens to the same radio station.  So our hymn singing reflects different tastes and ages from “golden oldies”, classical and contemporary.  If you don’t care for one of our hymns you may well really like the next.  Our music mix tries to provide something for everyone.

We have a splendid Senior Choir and vibrant Junior Choir under the direction of Suzanne O’Leary.

Sunday School

The Sunday School Year begins with Registration on Rally Sunday in mid September and culminates with our congregational picnic in late May or early June.  Please remember that the children come into church for the first part of our worship service together before departing for their classes after the children’s time (10:45).

Fellowship

Fellowship is an extension of our worship giving us the opportunity to express our mutual care, concern, encouragement and appreciation.

Jesus said, “all people will know that you are my followers if you have love for one another”.

So we gather each Sunday after church for a cup of tea or coffee, or a glass of juice, good conversation and there’s always a little something to spoil us or our appetite for lunch.  St. Mark’s seeks to promote a warm, friendly, supportive and convivial community.  The word “convivial” literally means “shared life”.  If you are in no particular hurry, please consider joining us for refreshment and to share your life with us.