I grew up in England and attended schools with a strong Anglican tradition. However, it wasn’t until university that I discovered my faith and was baptised and confirmed.
A few years later, when my wife, Liz, and I moved to California, we attended an Evangelical church for 20 years, with Liz joining the church staff. Eventually we left and went looking for another church. When we found St Marks, it felt just like the things we’d left back home. However, this time around I had a better understanding of the reasoning behind the liturgy, which I had previously considered to be something of a chore but found at St Marks to be a beautiful thing.
I feel that St Marks is a place where anyone can easily meet with God, but not always how or where you expect. While the choir and the organ and Matt’s fabulous singing are undeniably impressive, I like to find God in the little slivers of silence that punctuate the spaces between the business and bustle of the rest of Sunday morning. The gap between the pre-service music and the first hymn. That pause between the choir sitting down and the reader coming up, that kind of thing. I embrace the still small voice of God in those moments.
I also value the many backgrounds and perspectives of the people of St Marks. There are so many fascinating stories in the church. Whether these stories are shared from the pulpit, over coffee at Agape, or in the carpool on the way to Elmwood Jail, they’re all ways for me to meet God in the ways he’s shaped our unique lives. I’m happy to call St Marks home.