This report was submitted by our Senior Minister to the Annual General Meeting of St Marks June 2011. Our Trustees requested that we publish it in the Voice.

The Church
The Church is not a store room, nor is it a bank where grain and finances are accumulated. The church is not a cistern containing water, but a spring of running water to quench the spiritual thirst of people within and without. Our church is like a bakery preparing the bread of life to feed hungry souls. The church is not a holiday resort established to provide social and recreational fulfilment. It is a hospital where the broken and forsaken can come for healing and wholeness.

History of the Church
The legacy of congregational churches in history is that they were free churches. Free from government interference and free from bishop control. Congregational churches were always mission minded. The early church was distinguished by simplicity, purity and purpose. She possessed little silver and gold. She attached little importance to external authority, when she sounded the trumpet of evangelism, the walls of some Jericho stronghold would fall down. Unlike the state churches, which accumulated wealth and built cathedrals of gold, the congregational church reached out and rebuilt the lives of men and women, boys and girls. God forbid that we, St Marks, should seek our own comforts more than the conversion of souls. We are here to serve God not ourselves.

Beautiful Church
Over 25 years we’ve consolidated St Marks and constructed a beautiful church with great facilities. We are most blessed to have a vision to reach out to mission projects that save the souls of those lost and drowning in the sea of despair. The church at Laodicea in Revelations 3:15-22 boasted of being rich and increased in goods but did not know that they were spiritually poor and their self-interest was their shame. They had lost their first love. Although we do provide a substantial sum to mission projects of roughly 10%, we spend the bulk of our income on matters that serve our church programme. Our work never stops. Contrary to public opinion a minister does not work only one hour a week. I thought it important to share with you some of the challenges our staff and I face.

Contributions
St Marks members contribute toward the stipends and services rendered by our ministerial staff. When you consider the variety of styles at the church’s disposal through the diversity of gifts and talents of our team, one realizes how fortunate we are to have this arrangement, a privilege we dare not take for granted. What some folk don’t realize is that as the founder and Senior Minister of St Marks, I could have chosen to keep the church smaller and plodded on, without extensions and satellite ministries. My work load would have been less and I could have lived in relative comfort and ease. The fact that I believed I was called to equip, train and encourage men and women to serve God either in fulltime ministry or as lay people has become an integral part of the multiple activities of our church. Why Sandy and I have been called to fulfil this role is a mystery. What is not a mystery is that we live on the bare necessities to enable others to serve in the fulltime ministry and accomplish more for His sake.

Ordained Ministers
None of our ministers work for a salary comparable to the secular world but receive a stipend. Being an ordained minister is unlike being employed by a corporate company. We do not have “perks” and “benefits”. We do not work from 8 to 5 daily and go home to chill out. Our 24/7 service to the community is jam-packed with activity that often leaves our family relations second and third in priority. Our comforts are not primary, after all a servant serves others.

This is the difference between being called as a Minister and being employed. Employed clergy are like the hireling shepherd Jesus spoke of that when they see the wolf they seek self protection and run away leaving the sheep. For anyone to see themselves as simply employees of St Marks is for them to have missed the point. St Marks provides office space and electronic means of communication. We have stipends, maintenance, municipal services and petrol costs and deal with the SARS and other Government administration requirements. Hospital call outs and home visits plus counselling and speaking appointments form part of our regular ministry. St Marks is indeed a beacon of hope.

Visitors
Visitors don’t simply come to church because they happen to be passing by. They visit St Marks because our team of ministers, members and helpers have touched their lives through the week at hospital or public services. They attend St Marks because during the course of the month they’ve attended weddings, a funeral, a Christening or heard about the church through the profile of the church’s activities or at their work, from workshops or social circles. We visit prisons, shut-ins and care for the depressed, the lonely, the forsaken and the needy. Our work never ends and yet the criticism never abates.

Informing You
I raise these points not to criticise or complain, but to inform. Please don’t think that if we miss a special birthday or anniversary or are not seen visibly that we are sipping lemonade and relaxing at some exotic venue. In most cases we are out there mending broken lives and offering encouragement and counselling. Every Saturday involves weddings. Every Sunday regular services, as much as seven at various venues for a variety of needs. We do not have a weekend off to spend time frolicking with the crowds. Our morning starts early and our nights end late. We are often called out when the city sleeps to some forlorn soul or a crisis in a family or a tragic accident. Last year our team conducted a total of 233 weddings, 120 funerals, 152 Christenings and 360 speaking appointments. We speak at schools, colleges, universities, business lunches, at Rotary functions and other conferences notwithstanding our regular services.

Responsibilities
As the Senior Minister I have 77 full time staff members to consider and 1200 families to care for. This includes St Marks, St Davids (300 families), Graceland Mission, Motherwell, Counselling Clinic, Life Recovery Care, Assisted Living and Step Down Facility, Secretaries, Administration staff, a School with teachers and cleaners, etc. Am I able to manage such a big organization? Yes, I can and over the past 25 years I have, thanks to our Lord and His people. However, this is largely due to our dedicated ministerial and church staff and a wonderful congregation with a committed support structure.

We Have Grown
The point is that St Marks has grown in membership and our building extensions have been extensive. In 2 years our school will have paid up its bond and we stand ready for the next phase of development. Let’s make our St Marks journey unforgettable. Can we as a church do more? I firmly believe we can and should do more. There is not a night that goes by that I think we’ve done enough. I feel we should do much more and by His Grace we will. Let’s get back to the church’s primary mission. Let’s emulate the great Congregational missionaries such as Livingstone and van der Kemp (both congregational pastors), who dedicated and gave their lives in reaching people with the life changing Gospel. His Truth will prevail. God bless you one and all.