Long Range Plan Executive Summary

Discerning Our Call in Community:
Long Range Plan Executive Summary

Our Current Position

“Love is our Tradition.” For more than 150 years, St. Mark’s has served as an example of love and acceptance. We care deeply about each other and about our community. We are known as a church that is socially progressive and liturgically more traditional.

With an average Sunday attendance of roughly 120 (in-person and in real time on Zoom), we are a size defined as “transitional” – larger than a congregation that can be led by one priest and a part-time staff member, but smaller than a “program” sized church that can support additional clergy and staff and a more fully developed lay leadership.

Vision

We like who we are, who we are becoming, and how we take care of each other, and being involved in our community. We would like to increase the participants in our congregation through natural growth so that we can have a greater impact on our community, grow our lay leadership, and be able to support additional clergy and staff.

Mission

St. Mark’s is a community who expresses our love for God by welcoming everyone, serving our community, and celebrating our Episcopal worship.

Core Values

Our core values drive our behaviors.

We love God. St. Mark’s is a community of people who believe in the power of God’s love as expressed through God’s son, Jesus Christ.
We love each other. Our love for God compels us to love and welcome others with open arms – regardless of age, ethnicity, sexual orientation or social status.
We love our community. Our love for God compels us to serve our community by being active in service to those in need.
We love our faith. We celebrate our love for God, for each other, and for our community through Episcopal worship that keeps us grounded in our faith.

The intersection of our core values is Love.

Goals

COMMUNITY: Engage our members in diverse services to and with the RVA community that build the St. Mark’s community and strengthen our spiritual formation as doers of the word.

IN-REACH: Strengthen our relationships with God and with each other and take care of our members.

RUNNING THE CHURCH: Build St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s human, financial and physical resources to support its community.

VISIBILITY AND MEMBERSHIP: Increase the awareness and impact of St. Mark’s in our community and help plan for and nurture church growth.

About the Long Range Plan and Planning Process:

2017-2018 Long Range Planning Team members: Co-chairs Suzanne Long & Shannon Heady, Jo Tyler, Joe Kelly, Phoebe Davis, Wes Kaufman, Dan Hartman, Andrea Lofton, Linda Strickland, Mickie Jones, Karen Franklin, Isabel Wescoat, Tamara Orr, Denis Riva, and Dustin Landers.

A living document the plan was conceived of and created in 2017-2018. We were blessed with the professional facilitation of Kathryn Whitney of Warren Whitney. First affirmed by the Vestry in 2018, Long Range Plan goals and strategies have been updated regularly by Vestry and Ministry Team chairs. The most recent update was completed and affirmed by the Vestry in September 2024.