HOME INTRODUCTION MISSION, CORE VALUES & VISION NEW RECTOR PROFILE OVERVIEW CONTACT US
Outreach
One obligation of a church is to provide services to the community and to people who may not otherwise have access to those services. We respond to community needs both with an immediate response such as during Hurricane Harvey or as a long-term commitment as with the Sewing Guild. A high percentage of St. Mark’s parishioners are involved in community service, and we are fortunate to have people of faith who express their faith by helping others. Our community outreach ministries include:
- Sewing Guild members complete charity projects that are supported by the Vestry and additional projects with donated materials are also fulfilled. The recipients of these charity projects include the Fort Bend Women's Shelter, the Diocese of Texas's Lord of the Streets and Texas Children's Hospital. Last Christmas, the Sewing Guild made pillow cases with slots for books. Each child received a "counting book".
-Meals-on-Wheels is committed to helping seniors remain independent by enchancing their quality of life through services and resources. Parishioners help deliver the meals and also collect pet food to be delivered to senior citizens.
-The Fort Bend Community Partners Rainbow Room is a charitable organization dedicated to helping children and families in crises by supporting the efforts of caseworkers. St. Mark's provides Christmas presents for these children. A "Giving Tree" with ornaments that indicate what presents are needed for these children is used to help members select what gifts they want to purchase.
-Book donations to the Fort Bend County Health Center provide reading materials for siblings of children who are patients of the pediatric clinic.
-The Pennywise Resale Shop provides families with clothing, furniture and household goods to help them start new, violence-free lives and provides a quality, reasonably priced product to the community. Parishioners of St. Mark's donate clothing and household items on an individual basis to the Pennywise Resale Shop.
-St. Mark's Saints for a Cure Walk Team has raised funds since 2011 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation annual walk. Funds raised by the team help support JDRF and their efforts to fund a cure for juvenile diabetes and provide support for diabetic type one patients. In 2022 the team raised $3,700.
-The Richmond Fire and Police Departments and the Sugar Land Fire Department have had the benefit of receiving left over food from St. Mark's fish fries and other events.
-Graduating high school seniors receive monetary gifts from St. Mark's parishioners as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
-The St. Mark's chapter of the Daughters of the King provides meals and support for parishioners and prayers for those in need. The DOK has collected hygiene items for the Fort Bend County Women's Shelter. As a special project in 2022, the DOK donated approximately three dozen purses for the shelter residents. These purses were filled with such items as tissues, lotion and hand santizer. Additionally, in the fall of 2022, the DOK collected back-to-school supplies for Taylor Ray Elementary School in Rosenberg.
- Eucharistic ministers take Holy Communion to shut-ins and ill parishioners.
- Fort Bend Family Promise provides shelter and meals for homeless working families in our county. Parishioners cooked and delivered dinner for four to five families every quarter.
- St. Mark's has participated for multiple years in the Souper Bowl of Caring. The Souper Bowl of Caring was established in 1990 as a way to help fight hunger in the United States. Church members donate canned and dried food that is donated to the Souper Bowl of Caring for several Sundays concluding on Super Bowl Sunday.
- The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is where St. Mark's parishioners donate blood.
- Hopsital nurses were in need of extra support during the Covid pandemic. We delivered meals and fun gifts to ICU nurses at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Sugar Land.
- One member of our congregation donated 1,600 protective cloth masks. The majority of the masks went to the Fort Bend County Commissioner's office. Approximately 400 masks were reserved for use at St. Mark's.
- Common Threads is an oranization in the Lamar Consolidated School District that provides school uniforms, shoes and socks for the children in the district. St. Mark's had a successful fund raising campaign for this organization.
- St. Mark's participated in The One Thousand Days of Love program sponsored by the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund. Individual donations made to The One Thousand Days of Love were used by the ERD to feed and educate children in underdeveloped parts of the world.
- Parishioners of St. Mark's donated funds to purchase bedding and hygiene items for homeless individuals in the Houston area.
