Your committee has completed the materials related to the search and submitted them to the Diocesan Office.  These materials are posted on the bulletin board in the Guild Hall.  The content of the profile, priorities and rector responsibilities are based on the input of those who participated in the feedback sessions in November and the committee member’s views.  We thank all who contributed.  It is hoped that we will be receiving resumes this month for the committee’s review.

St. Mark’s draws its parishioners from Milwaukee’s East Side and around the city. The socioeconomic makeup of the parish includes educators (including a number who are on the faculty of local universities), professionals, working class and a few struggling to make ends meet.  We would like to think of ourselves as warm and welcoming, but realize that is not always the case, so we are looking for leadership and coaching to improve our evangelism perhaps by creating a more welcoming environment and communicating our inclusive philosophy.  We are open to all persons seeking Christ, without regard to ethnicity, gender preference or gender.

There are a number of fellowship opportunities during the year, such as all-parish dinners, fund-raising events or workdays where the parish can come together. Other activities are ongoing, such as the Men’s Fellowship Group, the Women’s Book Club or pastoral care activities such as Lay Eucharistic Ministry, home visitation and meals.

We have lost several families with school age children and are keen to increase the size of this portion of our community.  We have defined growth of our parish as our primary goal and, accordingly, we seek a rector who has the skills to facilitate that growth through leadership and coaching of the lay community.

The people of St. Mark’s come from a many walks of life, but we all enjoy being spiritually and intellectually challenged, and we appreciate a well-constructed, theologically stimulating sermon. For many of us, the sermon is the primary point of engagement with issues of faith. Our weekly Thursday evening formation/supper, called “St. Mark’s Bistro” provides an additional forum for examining our faith and studying issues of current interest.

We view our children’s and young adults’ education programs as areas of great potential for improvement and expansion. Until recently St. Mark’s had a vibrant church school program, but we have seen declining enrollment.  Until this year, we have had a VBS program with two other churches in the neighborhood.  

St. Mark’s consistently supports a wide variety of outreach programs including the Gathering, Sojourner Truth House, Habitat for Humanity and others.    Moneys are raised for these and other programs through community based fund raising, sales and services that both connect us with the community and bring money to support local services such as feeding programs, counseling, elder care and shelters.  In 2007, nearly $16,500 was raised for twelve local and nationally based programs.  

Recently, to help support the revival of parishes in New Orleans, we established a relationship with St. Anna’s parish and through them have learned of a significant health need among local musicians and were able to raise over $8,000 for the Musician’s Medical Clinic.

Currently we have three services on three Sundays of the month which provide a variety of worship styles, and a combined service on the first Sunday of each month.  The 7:30AM service follows Rite I and speaks to the early-rising worshipers who desire only the basic worship experience, the second focuses on informality and is especially kid-friendly, while the third is a traditional choral service.

Music is an important part of our worship, with hymns mostly from the 1982 Hymnal.  There is interest in a variety of music styles.  The Eucharist service is sung on at least festival days with some flexibility.

St. Mark’s was founded as a mission in 1893 and recognized as an independent parish in 1907.  The present church building was erected in 1912 and our guild hall expansion was completed in 1954.  St. Mark’s growth largely mirrored the overall growth of the neighborhood and the city’s economy.  Its peak numbers were in the ‘50’s and have declined to about 100+ pledging units.  Average attendance on Sunday is 120.  St. Mark’s has called 12 rectors over its history, with our last two rectors serving 14 and 8 years.  As might be expected, our church buildings and property are both an asset and burden; making the right choices for their use and maintenance will be important to the church.

St. Mark’s is situated in the center of what is known to Milwaukeeans as the “East Side”, so called because of its location on the east side of the Milwaukee River.  The neighborhood is a vibrant, eclectic mix of urban and suburban, university, commercial and residential.  Recent studies suggest there are significant numbers of young unchurched or lapsed people in the area.  The church shares its immediate neighborhood with a beautiful Frederick Law Olmstead-designed city park on the shores of Lake Michigan, and an attractive commercial district with shops and restaurants.  It is all within walking or biking distance of attractive and affordable residential areas.

The greater Milwaukee area has a population of approximately 1.5 million people.  It is an hour and one half drive to both Chicago and Madison, as well as within easy driving distance of two Episcopal seminaries, Nashotah House and Seabury-Western.  There are two major universities- Marquette University just west of downtown and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee located immediately north of the church.  There are also many smaller colleges and universities in and around the city.

Cultural activities include a major symphony orchestra, major regional opera and ballet companies, as well as renowned theatre groups.  Several major league sports are here or nearby, including the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks.  Professional soccer and ice hockey are also represented, as is Olympic speed skating.  From early June though September, much of the cultural and recreational focus is on our beautiful lakeshore, where the well-known popular music festival, Summerfest, as well as weekly cultural and ethnic festivals are held.  Sailing, fishing and other water sports are also available.  There are several highly regarded museums, such as the Milwaukee Art Museum with its Calatrava addition, the Children’s Museum, Discovery World and the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Milwaukee is home to several large corporations, such as Rockwell International, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, Quad/Graphics, Miller Brewing and Harley-Davidson in addition to several major banks and banking services companies.  The employment climate in Milwaukee is considered favorable.

St. Mark’s is an urban parish seeking transformation. We need an energetic leader with a collaborative style.  Our priorities are parish growth, child & youth formation, support of lifelong Christian formation, and outreach.  We respect traditional liturgical and musical styles, but are eager to embrace others.

 

 

1st Responsibility – Worship Leader

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2nd Responsibility – Lead church growth

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3rd Responsibility – Create & nurture children/youth formation

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4th Responsibility – Guide parishioner’s spirituality

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