Church School

Religious education is available for all ages (3 years old to adult) on Sunday mornings. Children's classrooms are in the education center, the youth meet in the aptly named youth room, and adults meet in Langley hall. Church school is held from 11:10 am to 12:00 pm every Sunday from September to May.

Preschoolers through fifth graders follow the "Godly Play" curriculum. This program is modeled on the Montessori approach of teaching. "Godly Play" provides an environment in which children feel safe and welcome . . . where they can learn the art of using religious language to encounter God and to find meaning in their lives.

"Journey to Adulthood" continues to guide youth in the sixth grade and up. "Journey to Adulthood" is a spiritual formation for young people that provides a liturgical frame for their experience in the modern culture and celebrates their individuality and their creative potential. They are instructed with skills needed for successful participation in church and society.

The "Journey to Adulthood" program is about friends. Its all about friends. We get them together and they form friendships. We want them to develop these friendships so that they have "fellow pilgrims" on the road to adulthood--a support network for getting through adolescence.

Getting them together also provides an opportunity for them to get to know an adult who is not their parent that they might use as a resource person for the many decisions they will have to make. Finally, all this friendship is happening in an environment of faith exploration. They are moving from their faith being the faith of their parents to making the faith their own.

All this getting together involves lots of outreach projects and social functions and weekly group discussions (Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m.)

The Adult Education offerings includes several opportunities. Coffee Hour speakers cover a range of topics during the Church School hour.

During church school, the nursery remains open for infants, toddlers, and 2 year olds.

Young members of the church are taught all the steps required of a good acolyte. They serve during the main church service every week.

Education For Ministry

Education for Ministry (EFM) is a program of the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. This excellent educational experience provides a comprehensive, experiential education in the foundations and message of the Christian faith for the laity of the church.

When you participate in this program you commit to one year at a time, for a total of four years, to complete the program, meeting regularly in seminars to study the Bible, Church History, and Twentieth Century Theology.

Two Education for Ministry groups meet at St. Mark’s and both are led by the Rev. Dr. Charles Hawkins and graduates of the program.The day group meets on Wednesdays from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and the evening group meets Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm

New classes are being formed now! For more information about the EFM program, click here. To sign up, call the parish office at (502) 895-2429.

Virtually-biblical and ask the priest blog links

St. Mark's offers an online bible study called "Virtually-Biblical."  "Virtually-Biblical" is a great way to ask the rector bible questions. To subscribe email virtually-biblical@yahoo.com .

In addition, you may find this link to an Episcopal Blog interesting: http://askthepriest.typepad.com . It is a resource to get many questions answered.