Word of Welcome from the Rector

The Protestant Episcopal Church of America

Dear friend:

Regardless of personality, experience, or background, most of us share an interest in spirituality -- yet seldom do we find that interest encouraged by religious institutions.

Thousands of years ago, Jesus of Nazareth began calling people to begin a spiritual journey by following him. Jesus had no connection to institutions -- social, political, economic or religious. Yet he offered something much more powerful and transforming. He offered a way of life -- a way of living and being, a way of believing and serving, a way of connecting with ourselves, other people, and with God. He offered all this, and he offered himself.

Those first followers of Jesus had no idea where their journey would take them. They could never have guessed the enormity of this new beginning -- yet they did have a sense that this was that for which they had hungered all their lives. Completely clueless about what would lie in the future if they dared follow Jesus, they dared to follow Jesus anyway -- and invited their closest friends and family to follow too.

Like those first followers, you too may have hungered for something all your life.

   

You, like us all, can not tell where such a spiritual journey may ultimately lead -- yet you may sense that there is a Power greater than ourselves, a Power that leads to New Beginnings, a Power that calls us to Life, a Power that transforms the human soul. That Power is more than an impersonal "force." More than a Power, it is a Presence, it is Personal. That Power is God -- who came among us as one of us, in Jesus Christ. God encounters and transforms us now in the empowering, personal presence of the Holy Spirit.

If you are curious about what such a journey might mean for your life, we would like to meet you! Or, if you have already begun an intentional spiritual journey, and would like to become part of a band of others who are trying to help one another in our common journey, consider becoming one of us. There are never enough friends on the journey -- there is always room and need for more! We want you to become part of our growing spiritual community, to join with us on our quest to experience the spiritual power of Jesus.

As Jesus said to two new friends, "Come and see."

The Lord be with you,
Rick Laribee+


Come Celebrate the great fact...
God is in Love with Us!

An invitation for newcomers: Come and See

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Last modified: March 31, 2008
St Marks Episcopal Church is convenient to Columbia MD, Clarksville MD, and Laurel MD, in Howard County, Maryland, halfway between Baltimore and Washington D.C.