What We Believe
The mission of St. Mark’s is; To restore all people to unity
with God and each other in Christ.
The
ordinary becomes Holy at St. Mark’s when we participate in the sacraments of
the church. Ordinary bread and wine become Holy when we celebrate Holy
Communion. We take the elements of Communion into our bodies, to feed us with
the Holy mysteries only God can provide, so that we can go out into the world,
transformed in His Holiness, to live God’s word and His love in order to grow
and share God’s grace, love, and Holiness with everyone we meet.
At St. Mark’s we join in an unending journey of discovery, following
the living Holy Spirit through an era of uncertainty and epochal change. We welcome individuals and families of
diverse faith backgrounds, ages, interests, and experiences to join us on this
fulfilling and fruitful adventure. We
honor personal freedom, responsibility, and the divine image in everyone.
The clothes you wear to St. Mark’s aren’t important. What’s
important is your presence.
Our congregation is not large in numbers, but it is large in
love and spirit. If you are looking for a church family where Jesus is Lord and
the Gospel is relevant to your life, where people with widely differing
backgrounds and philosophies can sit down and worship together, where you don't
have to check your brain at the door, and where all questions are welcomed and
explored together; we hope you will join us in our quest for the holy.
We don’t insist that we know all of the firm and final
answers to life’s most important questions, but we commit ourselves to
listening to God, loving the questions, being an active part of God’s ongoing
work, and reaching out to show that faith can bring peace, justice, and hope to
the world, the local community, and in each other’s lives.
We value the Holy Bible as God’s transcendent revelation and
as the embodiment of God’s moral vision for our lives and for society. We hold
it to be the final authority on matters of doctrine and ethics in our lives and
for the church.
About
our priest, Fr.
Steve
Fr. Steve is a life long Episcopalian. Fr. Steve grew up in
Stillwater and graduated from OSU, then went to dental school at the university
of Oklahoma School of Dentistry. After dental school Fr. Steve did a general
practice residency at the LSU college of Dentistry in New Orleans at Charity
Hospital.
After his studies Fr. Steve returned to Stillwater to
practice dentistry with his father. Fr. Steve continues to practice dentistry.
Fr. Steve felt the call to ministry many years ago, but took
the path to dentistry instead. Recently the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma began
a seminary program in conjunction with The Seminary of the Southwest, in order
to train clergy locally, who are called to be deacons and bi-vocational
priests. After completing seminary Fr. Steve was appointed the vicar
of St. Mark’s by the bishop.
Fr. Steve is married to his wife Kim, they have 5 children
and 8 grandchildren. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his
grandkids and family, riding his bicycle on the gravel roads around Stillwater,
gardening and fishing.