Minister
The congregation of Mark Street United Church in Peterborough is currently in search for our new Minister and as required, our Living Faith Story is listed on ChurchHub.
In preparation for this journey, many important considerations were explored:
- who we are as a church and congregation
- our priorities and plans for the future
- readiness to embrace our new minister
- financial well-being, now and into the future
Mark Street United Church Search Journey
Our journey began February 2019 when Rev. Boyd convened a small group to develop the Living Faith Story. The Focus Group as it became known, met regularly for over a year and found itself exploring every aspect of worship and church life at Mark Street.
This broad-based undertaking, encompassed a comprehensive review and exploration of who we are and who we will become as we prepare for the future, keeping in mind our past history and experiences.
This resulted in establishing meaningful priorities for the church and more importantly developing workable, forward-looking plans and methods that recognized the need to reach out and “grow the church”. Throughout the process, the focus group ensured that the congregation was both informed and involved every step of the way, by utilizing a number of innovative congregational meetings and strategies.
Our priorities at Mark Street are identified as opportunities for growth that will appeal to the congregation and to members of our local, growing community.
Call a Minister who, with a strong belief in God, will be an innovative worship leader, providing a joyful, inspiring worship service, while making scripture relevant to our everyday lives.
Renew our commitment to encourage and welcome members from the community into the life and activities of the church.
Remain true to our mission statement.... “a faith community called to worship inclusively, as we serve God, together”.
Continue and expand the emphasis on stewardship, developing our time and talents for the service of God.
Support community awareness through ongoing communication utilizing a wide variety of marketing and social media approaches. To this end. a newly formed Congregational Development Team acting in support of the Ministry of Mark Street is now actively involved in advertising and marketing. The first step, now completed, resulted in direct-mailing 7020 households in East City. A tri-fold brochure will be mailed in conjunction with the re-opening of services in the Church sanctuary.
Revitalize programs for children, youth and families that will serve specific needs and interests.
The way forward for Mark Street will require leadership and commitment from both our new Minister and members of the congregation as we find new ways to broaden and expand our church ministry.
Ministry Outreach will become a new focus; as we ascertain community needs, the development of specific “connecting” strategies will help ensure an ongoing presence within the community.
Make a more direct and meaningful connection with our church user groups by recognizing their contribution to the community and by ensuring they are invited and made to feel welcome at our Sunday services.
Through music we find a new and deeper connection to the wonderful mystery of God, that is beyond words alone. With the hiring of an Organist and Choir Director in 2018, we are positioned to expand and diversify our music program – a process that has started with the identification of ten community contacts.
UCW remains very active through their monthly meetings and Church Outreach Program in support of members of the congregation. As well, the financial assistance that is provided annually to a few selected groups in the community, will be given greater recognition in future years.
The congregation, through our annual, Stop – Start – Continue exercise, identified a strong desire to restart a number of activities and events. We will initiate this under the umbrella of, Bring-A- Friend, supporting the belief that we are more than just Sunday service”.
In summary, our priorities and plans are embodied within the following commitment:
- We are rebuilding Hope
- We are rebuilding Faith
- We are rebuilding Community
With this in mind, it is with profound optimism, we know that Mark Street United Church will move forward with a new Minister who shares our enthusiasm, strengthened and prepared for the future.