St. Mark's, Hampton, decides to leave their building

St. Mark's, Hampton, has made the decision to give up their building. The congregation has not made any decisions yet about their next steps, but St. John's, Hampton, has invited St. Mark's to use office and worship space at St. John's while they discern what the future holds for them.

 

Following a long period of study, prayer and discernment, St. Mark's vestry came to the conclusion that a continuing worship life for St. Mark's was unsustainable in their current building. At its meeting on June 18, the vestry decided to vacate the building. In a letter to the congregation, the Rev. Warren Hicks, St. Mark's rector, said of the vestry's decision that, "One of our guiding questions was, 'is the mission of the church to support the building or is the building to support the mission of the church?' Our answer is clearly the latter."

 

The last service St. Mark's will hold in the building at 2605 Cunningham Drive in Hampton will be on Sunday, July 21 at 9:30 a.m. Bishop Magness will deconsecrate the worship space on Thursday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. 

 

St. Mark's was founded in 1963 as a mission of St. John's, Hampton, to serve the growing population of northwestern Hampton. St. Mark's has had a long commitment to radical hospitality and intentional welcoming. They continue to be a diverse community which welcomes individual differences and creativity. St. Mark's was the first church in the Diocese of Southern Virginia to affiliate with Integrity, an organization dedicated to affirming and encouraging the full participation of LGBTQ folk in the life of the church.