Adult Education

Serve on the Food for the Hungry Soul Planning Committee
Beyond the Sunday morning Christian growth classes, Saint Mark offers several short and long term courses for folks to learn and grow in their faith. In any given year, we will offer 3-4 long-term classes like Disciple Bible Study, Christian Believer, and Companions in Christ; in addition, each season, we will offer 3-5 short-term course on topics ranging from Literature and Faith to Developing Your Spirituality to Understanding World Religions to Financial Peace. The Planning Team for Food for the Hungry Soul works to determine “hunger” levels, to create a menu of nourishing offerings, to find the facilitators and resources to guide these courses, and to market the various offerings.
Time Commitment: 1-2 meetings per quarter, plus heavy phone and e-mail correspondence during planning seasons

Teach/Facilitate Class/Series
Saint Mark offers a variety of learning opportunities for adults, from Sunday School classes to our Food for the Hungry Soul short and long-term courses, from Wednesday Fellowship Dinner Programs to special seminars and workshops. If you enjoy teaching in general or have a particular topic/interest that you would like to share, let’s think together about the best way to offer your wisdom and skills.
Time Commitment: Flexible, depending on learning/teaching goals and needs

Serve on Spiritual Formation team
Our spiritual journeys are life-long processes of opening our hearts to God. The spiritual formation team is new to Saint Mark with the mission of providing opportunities for members to deepen their personal connection to God and each other. Examples of activities include centering prayer, Taize services, walking a labyrinth and spiritual retreats.
Time commitment: Monthly planning meetings

Plan Workshops/Retreats
In 2006, we plan to have a Spiritual Renewal Retreat (adult-focused) in the Spring, an All-Church Retreat (family-friendly) in the Fall, and other special workshops throughout the year. Planning these events generally involves finding a place, lining up guest speakers/facilitators, making logistical arrangements, promoting and coordinating registration, and planning the schedule.

Facilitate SaintMark@Home
SaintMark@Home groups enable us to get to know each other by meeting monthly in small groups of up to 15 people organized by neighborhood in order to study scripture and how it relates to our own experience. The facilitator fosters a community of care by notifying the group members about the monthly meetings, arranging for a meeting place and leading the group in a discussion based on a Game Plan provided in advance of each meeting.
Time Commitment: Preparation for each meeting is approximately 2-3 hours.

Coordinate SaintMark@Home Ministry
The Saint Mark@Home Committee nurtures SaintMark@Home by supporting facilitators and their groups in activities such as the Facilitator Training, the June picnic at McCoy Park, Habitat for Humanity build day, Ministry Moments, Saint Mark @ Home Awareness Day twice each year after the two Sunday Services, and a Facilitator Appreciation Dinner. The teams also works to evaluate overall SaintMark@Home coverage, and to start, reinvigorate, merge or disband groups as needed.
Time Commitment: A few scheduled planning meetings, plus preparation time around events.