At St. Mark’s we joyfully share a common desire to serve others, and we are blessed and enriched by this ministry. We support various local, national and international missions.
LOCAL OUTREACH
MEA Centre: Pregnancy Support Services (formerly Kingston Pregnancy Care Centre)
In the spring each year, we participate in the “Change for Life” campaign where parishioners collect their change in baby bottles between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. These funds are used to provide mothers and their children with crucial supplies throughout the year, when they “run short”.
In November and December each year, we hold our annual “Christmas Hamper Campaign” to support 10 families whose names have been submitted to us by the MEA Centre. Each year, after receiving generous donations, our team packs gift bags with gift cards for the families to buy their preferred food and holiday presents. The drivers who deliver to the homes of the recipients know quite well how important these gift bags are to those families and how happy they are to receive them!
Partners in Mission Food Bank
The Partners in Mission Food Bank, just off Montreal Street, is also an extremely important local mission for St. Mark’s. Our team runs 2-3 community food drives per year as well as collecting non-perishable food items and monetary donations from parishioners.
Other Local Ministries in Kingston
In 2022 and 2023, we supported the following local ministries in Kingston: Dawn House, Interval House, Homes for Heroes (Kingston’s Veterans Village), Hospice Kingston, Lunch by George (OSGK), St. Vincent de Paul Society-Kingston, Kingston Street Mission (through Lionhearts Inc.), the Mayor’s Fund for Ukrainian Refugees and the Diocese of Ontario’s DOORS Program.
NATIONAL OUTREACH
In 2022, St. Mark’s supported the Ministry of the Council of the North, and specifically the Arthur Turner Training School (ATTS) in Iqaluit. Many of us were unaware that pastors in the north receive no stipend for their work and have huge territories to cover.
In 2023, we supported the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) to support their relief efforts in Canada, relating to wildfires, floods and other disasters across our country.
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH
In 2022, we supported the Canadian Food Grains Bank which is a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working together to end global hunger. The Food Grains Bank works with locally-based organizations in developing countries to meet emergency food needs, achieve long-term solutions to hunger and work to foster informed action by Canadians and governments to support their international efforts.
In 2022 and 2023, we supported the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) to support their relief efforts in different countries in the world, relating to wildfires, floods, wars and other disasters internationally.
