St. Mark's Episcopal Church - LeRoy, NY
Opening doors, minds, hands, and hearts with Christ's love

Welcome to
St. Mark's Episcopal Church!

We are glad you found us and are interested in learning more about our community.  Visitors, newcomers, inquirers, and members of other faiths are always welcome to take part in Sunday services, educational opportunities for children and adults, and a variety of outreach and social activities.  Wherever you are on your spiritual journey - doubting, full-of-faith, or in between - you are welcome at St. Mark's.

St. Mark's will open for in-person services on Sunday, April 11 (10:30 am).

Here is a special message from The Rev. Colleen O'Connor:

The Bishop has approved limited in-person worship with some familiar guidelines: "Everyone present must wear masks at all times and maintain six feet distance. Singing, whether by cantors, choirs, or the congregation, is not recommended, and no church employees, lay or ordained, should be expected to return to in-person worship or other work before they have had the opportunity to be vaccinated." A further recommendation is that all worship leaders be fully vaccinated in order to lead worship. If you are fully vaccinated and able to serve as lector, please let the office know.
With these guidelines in mind, St. Mark's, as well as all the churches part of the Deanery Ministry Project, will be opening on April 11th. Please consider receiving the vaccines before attending in-person worship to insure you remain safe and well. As in the fall, there will be communion, but only bread will be distributed. People are to remain in the pews during the distribution of communion.
This has been a long, hard year for us all. Each of us has been personally impacted by the pandemic in ways we could not have imagined at the beginning of 2020. We have all experienced loss and yearn to be reunited with our family and friends.
The Easter Season is a time of resurrection and renewal, whether we gather in-person or remain on-line. Perhaps more than any other year in recent history, this Easter Season offers the hope we will soon be able to more normally resume our life together with gratitude and thanksgiving. We each have a story to share about how God has been with us this past year, helping us get through the most dark and difficult moments.
I look forward to the day we will be able to greet each other (at the appropriate distance) saying A--------! Christ is Risen!
Colleen+

Online Diocesan-wide CHURCH SERVICES - Sundays at 10:00 am - will continue into May

The services are posted on Facebook and YouTube each Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and can be viewed then or any time afterward.
You may also join the service via Zoom (video or phone): Services with Bishop Sean and people from across our diocesan partnership are at 10 a.m. on Sundays with the opportunity to watch the service and pray together for the petitions of the community. Use this link: https://zoom.us/j/127336938
pwd=cm8zUWh0Y2loTjYyKy91YURsTVBCQT0 to join. If you are asked for a password, use lakeerie. To join by phone instead of video, dial 646-876-9923 and use code 127336938#.

EVENING PRAYER

Evening Prayer has concluded.  It started in March 2020 with the idea that it would only last a couple weeks before we returned to normal.  It lasted for thirteen months, during which time members of the Genesee Deanery got to know each other and prayed for each other, and made Evening Prayer a habit.  If you would like to continue with a similar time of prayer and meditation, please look at the following options from Forward Day by Day: https://www.forwardmovement.org/Pages/Item/15054/Our-Podcasts.aspx

 

ADULT STUDY AND DISCUSSION  Alternate Wednesdays at 7:30 pm

Starting on January 13, St. Mark's will be hosting a study and discussion of Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times by Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.  Each session will focus on one chapter of the book, a short Bible passage, and questions to consider.  The church has copies of the book to borrow for the duration of the series.  To register for this, please e-mail stmarksleroy @ gmail.com [no spaces] and indicate if you need help with Zoom and if you  would like to borrow a copy of the book.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL Services & COVID Memorial

Please be aware that the National Cathedral offers many services as well as an online COVID-19 Memorial, where you can submit names of loved ones who have died of COVID.  A weekly service honors these people who have lost their lives. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stained Glass - St. Mark's is embarking on an exciting new project to protect and preserve the beautiful windows in the church.  The church is raising funds through a historical preservation grant and individual donations to replace badly deteriorating storm windows protecting the stained glass.  Donate to this project through PayPal

Here's a wonderful article detailing the $10,000 Sacred Sites grant being awarded to St. Mark's from the New York Landmarks Conservancy:The Batavian - St. Mark's Church in LeRoy

Thank you for your support!

 

 

SUMMER LUNCH for children & teens 2020                  

We had such a successful summer for the lunch program.  It was challenging due to Covid19 and special restrictions, but we had an outpouring of support from St. Mark's and the community with 38 volunteers, 25 donors, two donors for some food items. And best of all, we served 2,408 lunches over 8 weeks! Thank you to all who made it possible.  More info on the Facebook page.

 

An Experiment for the Sake of the Gospel

Our dioceses (The Episcopal Dioceses of Western New York & Northwest Pennsylvania) are on a journey to discover how collaborating can help us transform our congregations and communities through the power of Jesus Christ. In our churches, everyone is welcome, without exception.   (St. Mark's hosted Bishop Sean Rowe on Sunday, October 20 at the 10:30 am service.) 

Deepening Our Commitment to Racial Justice - Read Bishop Sean's Lenten message

St. Mark's LeRoy