The Search for an Associate Rector

Saint Mark’s, Locust Street, in Center City Philadelphia is searching for a priest to serve as Associate Rector, to share in collaborative ministry at this progressive, urban, Anglo-catholic parish.  We are committed to the ministry of women in holy orders, and both men and women are encouraged to submit their expressions of interest.

Our mission centers on the dual emphases of the worship of God and care for God’s people, especially those in need.  We continue to develop ministry with families and children, an area of parish life that has seen substantial growth in recent years.  The Associate Rector shares all aspects of priestly ministry with the Rector, and takes leadership responsibility for ministry with families and children, as well as with adults in their 20s and 30s.  Gifts in liturgical leadership, preaching, pastoral care, Christian formation, and administration, among others, are all important to the fruitful exercise of ministry in this context.

Saint Mark’s has grown steadily over the past 15-20 years, and has navigated the transition from a pastoral-size parish to a program-size.  We continue to experience a call to grow in our capacity for ministry and in our health and vitality.  We are looking for someone who will work collaboratively with the Rector, lay leadership, and volunteers to contribute to this process of growth, and who shares a vision of the church that is hopeful, engaging, and expansive.

We are looking for a priest possessed of significant gifts for ministry, including a desire to stretch his or her self as a leader in a parish that’s engaged in a wide variety of ministries, and that strives to adopt an outward-looking focus, while attending to the pastoral needs of the parish community.  The clergy at Saint Mark’s lead liturgies that are said and sung, use the breadth of the Prayer Book, and that daily require a meaningful engagement with the Scriptures for preaching, study, and instruction.

Those who find such a vocation attractive and who believe they may have appropriate gifts are asked to please express their interest to the Rector, Fr. Sean Mullen, by sending a resume and cover letter that shares some insight about their strongest gifts for ministry.  Please submit materials by email to: semullen@saintmarksphiladelphia.org

An Announcement from the Rector

Dear friends in Christ,

I'm writing to share with you the news that our Assistant Rector, Fr. Kyle Babin, has been called to be the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, on the Main Line.  Fr. Babin's gifts will be a blessing to this well-known Anglo-catholic parish.  We will miss him greatly, and I’m glad that he’ll remain a not-distant neighbor.  In only a short time here, Fr. Babin has provided excellent leadership of ministries with families and children, 20s and 30s, and has steered RISE - an experimental ministry - through its most recent phase.  He's been a gentle and good pastor to so many of us.  And we have benefitted from his voice in the pulpit and at the altar.  I'm very sorry to lose Fr. Babin as a colleague in ministry on Locust Street, but I am confident that God is blessing him and the people of Rosemont by bringing them together through this call.  Fr. Babin will be with us through much of the summer, wrapping up his time here on August 16, which will mean he can be with us through Choir Camp, assuming the camp is able to happen.  He and his husband, Robert McCormick (our Organist and Choirmaster) will be moving to Rosemont shortly thereafter, which means a longer commute to Locust Street for Mr. McCormick. As we get closer to the time, we will plan a way to celebrate his ministry among us in a way that's appropriate and safe, so that we can say thank you and wish him God's blessing in his new ministry. You'll be hearing more from me about this as plans are made, and I'll keep you updated on the search for a new priest to join our parish community.  Meanwhile, don't forget to offer your thanks to God for Fr. Babin's fine ministry, as I am doing too.

Faithfully,

Fr. Sean Mullen

From the Rector: Public Worship Suspended & Church Closed

From the Rector: It is with a heavy heart but a deep sense of social responsibility that I announce that we have decided to suspend all public worship and close the church building for the next several weeks. We believe that this step is in the interest of the common good of all people in our community and in this city, in order not to contribute to the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

We will continue to offer the sacrifice of the Mass daily at 10 a.m., and we will live-stream the Mass every day on Facebook. For resources and leaflets for Mass, please visit the Liturgical Resource portion of our website.

The resident community here will continue to pray the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer in the church.

The Blessed Sacrament stands in exposition on the High Altar at all times during this crisis, except during Mass. The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body of our Lord in this way is our constant prayer to Jesus to be with us and with everyone in this city and beyond during a time of worry, anxiety, and danger. Simultaneously it is Christ's assurance to us that he hears our prayers and that he is, indeed, with us, and that nothing can separate us from his love.

The Saturday Soup Bowl has suspended serving food on Saturday morning.

The Food Cupboard is closed.

The Office will be staffed during the week under modified hours to be determined.

Twelve-step groups will not meet in the Parish Hall at this time.

All other meetings, classes, rehearsals, etc, are either being scheduled to take place on Zoom, or have been cancelled.

The clergy are available to you by phone and email, and in person in the case of emergencies. Contact information is on the website.

We are evaluating the situation every day, and we expect to provide updates at least weekly on Thursdays, but possibly with greater frequency. It is our prayer that we might be able to return to some semblance of normalcy by Holy Week. We will be guided by circumstances in the city.

On the basis of consultation with health professionals and others, we believe that these drastic steps are necessary in order to avoid a greater crisis. The experience of other countries and communities offers us ample evidence both of the benefits of social distancing and of the real danger in failing to do so. If it was in the public interest to stay open we would do so, as our mission would compel us to. Under the present circumstances we believe that our bravery (if we stayed open) could very easily come at the expense of others, and that is no bravery at all.

Yes, we do know people who have been diagnosed with the virus. We do know of churches where the clergy have been diagnosed with the virus. We know of local businesses that are dealing with the impact of the virus. And we know of parishioners in our own parish community whose families and work places are impacted by the virus. We are praying for them all, and we are committed to do what we can to make the situation better, not worse.

We will be praying every day, and we hope you will join us in that prayer, every day at 10 a.m. on the parish Facebook page.

And we hope that our Lord's Presence in the church will be an assurance to you of God's protection and blessing in all things and at all times.

May the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord make his face to shine up on us and be gracious unto us. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us peace. And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with us all, this day and for ever more. Amen.

From the Rector: A few words about our ministry during this time of social distancing and peril.

Jesus is the life and hope and salvation of the world; everything we do at Saint Mark’s is meant to witness to this truth.  The church is challenged at this moment to learn how to bear meaningful witness, and to carry out her mission, but we are trying, and we believe that Jesus is with us.  He is our encouragement, our guide, our health, and, of course, our savior.  Everything we do during this time is an expression of this belief.

Since Saturday, 14 March, when we first decided that the public worship of the church would be suspended and the church would be closed, the Blessed Sacrament of the Body of our Lord has been standing in exposition on the High Altar of the church at all times, except during the Mass. The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in this way is a sign of our constant prayer to Jesus to be with us and with everyone in this city and beyond during a time of worry, anxiety, and danger. Simultaneously it is Christ's assurance to us that he hears our prayers and that he is, indeed, with us, and that nothing can separate us from his love.  We began something new in the midst of this crisis - this new and constant prayer and witness - that will continue until we are through it.

The Mass has been said daily at Saint Mark’s since 1884.  It is part of the witness of our faith in Christ that this offering of our praise and thanksgiving should continue to be made every day, especially in times of crisis.  We will continue to say Mass every day, at 10 am, and to livestream the Mass, since we cannot open the doors.  Of course, we will be praying for our City, for the world, and for all who are suffering and dying during this pandemic.  At every Mass, when we replace the Blessed Sacrament on the Altar, we offer a prayer to that effect.

The Book of Common Prayer (1979), in keeping with the Prayer Book tradition of many centuries includes the following statement of assurance, that we believe applies to the current moment: “If a person desires to receive the Sacrament, but, by reason of extreme sickness or physical disability, is unable to eat and drink the Bread and Wine, the Celebrant is to assure that person that all the benefits of Communion are received, even though the Sacrament is not received with the mouth.”

The clergy and Ministry Residents, and a few others who are present from time to time, continue to say the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer in the church, in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  We may soon start live-streaming these prayers as well.

Very soon we will begin to offer daily online content intended to engage our parish community and all those whose hope is in Christ who want to stay connected to a Christian community.  The gift of technology allows us to imagine ways we can stay connected, and encourage one another that have been hitherto unexplored by us.  We ask you to be patient, and to understand that we are amateurs when it comes to video production, but we expect to get better with practice!  Please watch the website and Facebook for more information about this aspect of our ministry.

We are now midway through Lent, and every indication now suggests that we cannot expect to have returned to anything like normal by Holy Week and Easter.  We are making plans to livestream Holy Week and Easter liturgies in some modified form that still expresses the mystery, beauty, love, and good news that these liturgies are meant to convey.

These are difficult days, and we expect things may get worse before they get better.  Praying is the one thing we can do when there is nothing else to do.  And while praying may not make everything better, it will help to strengthen us, it will help us to find peace, it will lead us to some measure of wisdom, and it will allow us to put our confidence in the only One who can be trusted to lead us not only through life, but across the chasm of death to a hope to be found yonder.

Fr. Sean Mullen

16 March 2020

The Lion's Mark February/March 2020

In this issue, read reflections from Father Sean Mullen, Father Kyle Babin, and Robert McCormick, plus upcoming events, news about the parish, and more. View the latest issue.