Our Vision for Raleigh

Saint Mark the Evangelist Orthodox Church is:

• A Church which is faithful to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ
• A Church which is part of the Orthodox Christian Church, which is the original Christian Church
• A small mission community meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina
• A missionary-oriented Church which in turn plants other Churches throughout North Carolina and the Southeast
• A traditional parish which observes all of the doctrines and practices of the Orthodox Church
• A Church which ministers to members of all races and ethnicities equally

Our Church Will:

• Continue to relentlessly share the Good News of Jesus Christ and His Church with the city of Raleigh
• Encourage and equip its members to grow in faith and piety through active participation in the life of the Orthodox Church
• Obtain a permanent Church building by 2015
• Work to encourage a return to Traditional Orthodox practice among those who have lost it
• Minister to those who have been left behind by other Churches or who are not sure how to explore faith for the first time on their own
• Establish adult education to enable members and non-members to grow in their knowledge of the Christian faith
• Work with local charities to provide material relief to the suffering and needy

The Resulting Vision

Currently, we have been meeting in our pastor’s humble home chapel. As we grow in our primary location in North Raleigh, we will obtain a Church building so that we can reach more people; our current situation prevents large scale advertising, and not everyone is comfortable to come to a house chapel (although I promise that we don’t bite!).

Continued growth will reveal where there are groupings of families. When there are pockets of people concentrated in an area sufficiently far from the first Church, we will encourage and equip the group to meet regularly for prayer, and from this will sprout the next mission. When this mission blossoms, the process will be repeated, so that there will be exponential growth across Raleigh and the Triangle region.

Over the long run, we seek to not just be “the” traditional Orthodox Christian parish in Raleigh and the Triangle, but rather one of many. Our goal is to see several traditional Orthodox Churches across North Carolina’s Triangle area, covering a wide geographical area and enabling everyone to have a truly local parish Church. We envision parish Churches in Downtown or South Raleigh, in North Raleigh, in Apex/ Cary, in Pittsboro, Durham, and in Wake Forest, although we are of course open to wherever the Lord ultimately blesses us to grow, and will follow His lead.

We believe that a network of multiple, smaller Churches tied together will be more effective than growing and continuing to acquire or build larger and larger facilities over the years.