At St Mark's, we strive to meet the worship needs of our community.
On a weekly basis we offer a wide and varied range of worship from the Traditional Form of Morning Prayer and Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer to Informal worship at our ArkAlive services.
The sacrament of Holy Communion plays a central theme to our worship in St Mark's, and it would be unusual to find any Sunday without the opportunity to celebrate Holy Communion.
Please continue to scroll down to find out more about our forms of worship....
PARISH CHOIR
The parish choir sings at all the main services.In addition to the singing of hymns, psalms and canticles, we have a widening repertoire of anthems and choral settings spanning more than four centuries. As a group we are neither elitist nor selective. Anyone and everyone is welcome, obviously it helps if you can hold a tune (which neatly rules out my Dad!) however a commitment to the Wednesday practice and Sunday services is more important than possessing the vocal powers of an angel.
The emphasis is firmly on enjoyment and there is, hopefully, a friendly, family atmosphere in the choirstalls.
If you feel you might be interested in finding out more, why not come to a choir practice and give us a test drive? There's no obligation and you may actually enjoy the experience! Just speak to me, Stephen (organist), David (assistant organist) or any choir member if you want to know more.
THE ORGAN
The organ was built in 1884 by the firm of 'Peter Conacher & Co', Huddersfield. Sited in a free-standing case at the east end of the north aisle, there are two manuals and pedals and mechanical action is utilised throughout. The stoplist is detailed below:-
Great 58
Swell 58
Pedal 30/Couplers
Open Diapason
Violin Diapason
Double Open
Stopt Diapason
Gedact
Bourdon
Dulciana
Gamba
Principal
Voix Celestes
Great to Pedal
Harmonic Flute Gemshorn
Swell to Pedal
Fifteenth Flageolet
Swell to Great
Mixture III
Cornopean
Swell Octave
Trumpet Oboe
Sw16 to Great
Tremulant
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
Stephen Shaw has been in post since 1994. In addition, he runs a small organbuilding business and teaches piano, organ and theory privately.
ASSISTANT ORGANIST
David Shephard was organ scholar from 2002 - 06. He has been assistant organist since then and is a primary school teacher by profession.
ASSOCIATE ORGANIST
Chris Kerr is a former St. Mark's organ scholar and recently returned to the bass section of the choir, having spent ten years as organist of a neighbouring parish. Both his organist colleagues are frankly jealous of his ability to sight-read anything set in front of him and look forward to his increasing involvement in parish music.
At St Mark's, we have launched a new brand of informal worship and teaching.
This was launched in September 2010 in an effort to bring young families together in worship in an extremely informal and interactive manner.
Typically, ArkAlive begins at 11am with a "Tea & Toast Welcome" served by members of our YouthArk Team in the Parish Centre. This has proved an excellent way in which to meet people and make new friends and has become an integral part of our fellowship every week.
At around 11:30am (or when the Tea and Toast has finished) the service itself begins in the Church.
Every week is different...
We always have lively, interactive songs for the whole family;
We always have family prayers to give the complete family unit an opportunity to pray together, particularly for themselves and the community at large;
We have teaching sessions when the children and young people leave the Church for their "ark" sessions where they will learn and explore the Bible while the grown-ups remain in Church as they explore the teachings too;
We have informal Communion at times, when the whole family remain for the service;
We provide an excellent space in the Chapel for families with very young babies and toddlers with plenty of space for them to run around. The Chapel opens out and becomes part of our Church so that everyone is together in worshipping God and during the "ark" sessions, an Ark Leader goes into the Chapel to engage with the toddlers through interactive stories and activies.
MAY & JUNE
With a short break on 1st May, ArkAlive will continue throughout these spring months with June seeing an array of ark Leaders sharing their thoughts each week.
JULY
To allow Stephen some time off, ArkAlive will not operate in July but there are great plans for re-launching again at the start of August!
Make sure you and your family are part of it!
This is our more contemporary form of worship usually on the thrid Sunday of each month in the Parish Centre at 7:30pm immediately after Evening Prayer.
Led by Francis Gunning, the Re:mark Band leads the worship each month.
This praise combines the traditional music with a contemporary beat, as well as introducing the Parish to newer worship songs.
Each month, a visiting speaker will engage with the topic, which this year is "Outreach."
At the end of 2010, the group organised an appeal which resulted in practical help and support to those local needy people through The Link Family Centre in Newtownards.
As well as a cheque for £250, the group presented the Link with numerous gifts which were distributed to local people who were able to enjoy Christmas that little bit better thanks to the efforts of Re:mark.
Knock Knock Who's There?"
Jesus says "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Rev 3 v 20
He also says "For where 2or3 come together in my name, there I am with them"
St Mark's Parish Prayer Group meet twice monthly usually 2nd and 4th Tuesdays in the St Columba chapel at 7.30pm
One person starts with a chosen theme or thought around which our prayer is constructed.
Prayer ranges around our own parish affairs, our relationship with other churches and related agencies in the town, also diocesan concerns, government, local and national,and the wider world problems.
A very important aspect of prayer is thanksgiving for eg situations resolved or healing of the sick.