The St Marks phenomenon continues to astound critics and supporters. The church is built on a very solid Bible foundation. We do not provide entertainment or other emotional hypes that are so prevalent in modern churches. Community and church leaders boast that the growth of a church in these changing times will only occur when the church programme includes an entertainment value. While we believe that humour is a form of entertaining listeners, the core secret of effective Bible communication is based on the unchanging Truth of God’s Word. People love to hear a story and we at St Marks have a story to tell. There is no magical formula, neither is there any form of emotional manipulation but the phenomenon of the sustainability and success of St Marks is rooted in the uncompromising Truth of the Gospel. It is a compliment when we hear people speak highly of the various services and ministries that we render to the community. Of course, we do not involve ourselves in these activities to receive the praise and acknowledgement of people. We do so because we sincerely believe God has called us to be different in our approach to ministry and to honour His Word. We are acutely aware that there are gimmicks and church trends that other religious groups have embraced in order to experience church growth. We on the other hand have not followed any other modal prescribed by the so called experts. After 25 years of establishing the ministry at St Marks we believe it is imperative that we branch out into other centres who have not experienced the phenomenon of our message.

Rev Philipp Hauf regularly represents St Marks in Cape Town and conducts a Home Study Group hosted by Sewis and Susan Meiring. Young couples who are interested in the message we share pay for the flight on a monthly basis affording us the opportunity of ministering God’s Word to them. It is our hope and prayer that a St Marks church will be established in Cape Town in the not too distant future. On the left a photo of the St Marks Bible Group in Cape Town.

Kenneth Claassen has been commissioned to co-ordinate a St Marks ministry in J/Bay and with the assistance of Gail and Andre Dorfling including some members who travel to PE from Aston Bay and J/Bay the prospects look very promising. We managed to find a building located in the main street of the town and after renovating the interior we established an office and a chapel to hold regular services. The St Marks Jeffreys Bay Church will help us in our quest to reach more people in the area.

Raymond Butler is a candidate for the fulltime ministry who has already completed his B.Min course and holds a Masters Diploma in Theology from the ITA. Raymond intends pioneering a St Marks fellowship in Uitenhage. He holds regular Bible Studies in the area and often visits our Hospitality Centre taking the Sunday morning devotions. He has been encouraged to identify property in the Uitenhage district for establishing a viable ministry in the town. On the right a photo of Raymond Butler.

It is well known that our school, our hospital, our kibbutz, the ITA and other ministries like St Marks in Motherwell, are fledging groups made possible by the support and involvement of St Marks as a mother church. St Davids, although established in 1964, has benefitted from the pastoral team of St Marks for the past 15 years. Our ministry continues to flourish but the organisation and burden of more responsibilities continue to leave us with greater challenges. Thank you our loyal and supportive members for helping us to reach so many people in the city and country and through the medium of internet and DVD’s we are now able to reach people in foreign countries. St Marks is indeed a phenomenon established by God.