Volunteer Opportunities

Take a moment to browse through the opportunity descriptions below. Then submit a form using the button below to get connected.

  • The dedicated members of the altar guild prepare our sanctuary for services each week. They set up the altar, change candles, polish brass, change the readings in the lectionary book, change the hymn numbers on the hymn board, wash the dishes after services, among other duties.

    The altar guild is split into two teams, one for the 8am service and one for the 10am service. Each quarter, members sign up for a couple of Sundays to be "on duty," usually with a partner. The altar guild has occasional meetings to do special work or to talk about the processes of the team.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    2-4 Sundays every quarter, 15-30 minutes before and after the service.

  • Ushers greet churchgoers as they enter the building on Sunday morning. They provide the bulletin and direct people to seats. Ushers take up the collection, count and record the number of people in attendance, and help direct people in moving to the altar rail to receive communion. Ushers also keep their eyes open for anything amiss during the service (medical, logistical, safety-wise, etc.) and are ready to respond. Ushers survey the pews before and after services and pick up old bulletins and other detritus. They place the collection in the lockbox in the closet in the sacristy. After the 10am service, ushers deliverer flowers to designated people.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month, 15 minutes prior to the service and 15-30 minutes after.

  • Also known as lay readers, lectors are responsible for reading the lessons appointed for the given Sunday. The lector practices the reading ahead of time, making note of any tricky words or passages. Reading during a church service is a low-time commitment ministry, but a very important one just the same. The lector shares the "what the Spirit is saying" to God's people

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month during a worship service

  • Chalice bearers assist the celebrant in administering Holy Communion, specifically the distribution of the wine. Chalice bearers lead the prayers of the people. At 8am services, the chalice bearer also serves as the acolyte. If you have never been a chalice bearer before, that's okay! We'll train you!

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month during a worship service

    CERTIFICATIONS

    Safe Church Training

    Diocesan Licensing

  • Acolytes assist the celebrant with carrying various items during services of Holy Eucharist: the processional cross, the Gospel book, the collection plates, and the vessels of communion. Acolytes light and extinguish the candles. Adults and children 4th grade and up are eligible to be acolytes. Training takes place when necessary, and the new acolyte’s first few times at the altar are spent shadowing an experienced acolyte. Either one or two acolytes are scheduled each Sunday. If two, they split the tasks, with one carrying the cross, Gospel book, and collection plate, and the other helping the celebrant with communion and extinguishing the candles.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month during a worship service

  • The livestream tech produces and broadcasts the 10am Sunday services to YouTube Live. From the “studio” in the alcove beneath the organ, the tech launches the stream, controls which cameras are capturing the service, and casts the service to folks watching at home. While this ministry needs a familiarity with computers, it is not too technical or complicated. Once everything is set up, it's a matter of paying attention to the service and clicking the right camera window at the right time!

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month during a worship service, arriving 15 minutes beforehand

  • Members of the flower guild create floral arrangements to adorn the shelf behind the altar, as well as larger displays for major holidays. They purchase flowers, often choosing ones based on the hopes of the donor, and arrange them on the day before the given Sunday. Every Sunday, these flowers are dedicated to the glory of God and in loving memory of a deceased loved one or in thanksgiving for an anniversary or birthday or other reason for gratitude.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    6-7 Sundays a year, buying and arranging flowers

  • The bread bakers take on the sacred duty of providing the bread for our services of Holy Communion. Using a special St. Mark's recipe, the baker cooks the round loaves at home and delivers them the church the day before or morning of their use.

    Baker Teresa Norris says. "Seeing the bread I made raised by the priest’s hands underscores all it means to be a part of this ministry. From my many decades in the Catholic Church, I recall in part the words, 'we have this bread to offer, work of human hands, it shall become for us the bread of life.'”

    TIME COMMITMENT

    A few hours, once a month

  • The team of lay eucharistic visitors brings the bread of Holy Communion from the altar to people who are unable to attend church. Along with the communion bread, they offer a ministry of presence to those they visit, who live in private homes and nursing facilities around the local area. This fulfilling ministry is one of the more time-intensive commitments a member can make at St. Mark's.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    2-4 Sundays a month, an hour or more following the service; monthly checkin meetings with the rest of the team

    CERTIFICATIONS

    • Safe Church Training

    • Public Records Check

    • Diocesan Licensing

  • SUNDAY CHOIR

    The St. Mark’s choir rehearses twice weekly during the school year, sings anthems each Sunday, and supports congregational singing of hymns and service music. During the summer, the choir rehearses just on Sunday mornings, learning the anthem for that day immediately prior to the service. No musical training is required to join the choir, only dedication and a positive attitude.

    7-8:30pm on Tuesdays

    8:30-9:30am on Sundays

Worship Team

Admin/Property Team

  • The dedicated members of the vestry partner with the rector to guide the community of St. Mark’s to closer relationships with God. While the vestry is often seen simply as the “governing board” of the parish, its decisions go beyond mere policy, affecting not just the structure and finances of the church, but also the spiritual lives of its people.

    As such, members of the vestry take on a sacred duty to listen to God, one another, the members of the parish, and the deep hunger of creation, and then discern how St. Mark’s will participate in God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in our neighborhood and around the world.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    2 hours a month for a meeting (3rd Tuesday at 7pm), possible sub-team meetings, and being active in the life of the parish.

    CERTIFICATIONS

    • Safe Church Training

  • The members of the finance team work with the treasurer to review the parish accounts on a monthly basis. The finance team serves as a sounding board for financial issues that arise during the day to day administrative work of the church. The finance team also assists the treasurer and budget coordinator in compiling the draft operating budget each year.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 hour a month, usually the second Tuesday at 7pm

  • The Endowment Committee watches the St. Mark’s investments, which are invested in pooled funds through the Donations and Bequests group of ECCT. The committee meets quarterly to review our investments and make recommendations to the vestry. The committee also calculates possible yearly draws from the endowment at responsible percentages, usually between 3% and 5% and manages all paperwork needed to deposit or withdraw money from our endowment funds. The committee is composed of three members serving staggered three-year terms.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 hour per quarter for a meeting; also diocesan investing presentations if you so desire to attend

  • The counters do the grunt work of processing the checks, cash, and online donations that come to the church each week and deposit those funds in the church's bank account. The counters also apply the individual donations to the correct members so their giving can back tracked for tax purposes. The counters always work in pairs or trios.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1-2 times a month for about an hour on Monday mornings.

  • Each fall, St. Mark's runs a pledge drive to financially support God's mission at the church in the next calendar year. The stewardship team helps with the administrative task of creating, distributing, and collecting materials and pledges from members of the church, as well as following up with people to encourage pledging.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    Open commitment in September through November, a few hours to 10+

  • The building team oversees the various projects coming out of the 2020 capital campaign. Installation of the solar panels is complete, but the other projects are ongoing; namely, the refurbishment of the "apartment" behind the church and the HVAC renewal in the church building, among a few smaller items. Any expertise in heating/cooling, electricity, general contracting, or project management would be great appreciated on the team.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    Twice monthly Zoom check-ins (about 30 minutes each) plus as much hands on work you wish to do.

Ministry/Education Team

  • Office ministers are stationed in the church office during office hours to serve a beacons of hospitality to those who call and enter the building. They direct calls to the pastor, take messages, welcome vendors, check the mail, and do light office work as needed (folding, stuffing, etc).

    Our vision for this office ministry is a vision of hospitality and service. We believe this ministry is holy task, for it is a call to be Christ for one another.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1-3 days a month, 9am-12:30pm

  • Bring in some goodies, make the coffee, set up for fellowship time following the service, and clean up after. In the summer, this ministry moves outside for Lemonade on the Lawn, with the only difference being lemonade replaces coffee. This is a low-commitment but high-impact ministry in which many hands join together over the course of the year to bring hospitality to all. Unlike other teams, you don't really even need to join it! Just sign up on the hosting chart near the food during fellowship time and then bring the goodies on your chosen Sunday!

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a quarter (or less) after the service

  • Each month, members of St. Mark’s use the church kitchen to cook a hot meal for the guests at the WARM Center in Westerly, RI. The meal feeds approximately 50-60 people. Sign-up sheets go up each month, and members purchase and donate the various foodstuffs and supplies needed to cook the meal. We also partner with WARM occasionally to provide juice boxes, water bottles, and other items for their various programs.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1-2 hours a month, usually the morning of the second Wednesday

  • Dismantling racism and working for equal justice for all people is a spiritual discipline. The members of the St. Mark's Anti-Racism Team (StART) are dedicated to helping the parish live out our baptismal promise to respect the dignity of all people and work for justice and peace. Started in 2019, StART developed the Mystic Conversations on Race, which ran during the school year of 2020-21 and continues to be a presence in the life of the parish.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    As needed for planning and action

  • The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program began at St. Mark’s in 2016. In partnership with TVCCA in New London, our VITA team of parishioners and community members welcomes hundreds of clients each tax season and provides free tax preparation services to people of low and middle incomes, as well as to seniors.

    Tax clinic jobs include tax preparer, hospitality personnel, and support personnel (who gather the paperwork from dropboxes and make sure everything is present).

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 day per week during tax season (February through mid-April)

    CERTIFICATIONS

    • VITA certification (for tax preparers)

  • Since 2008, St. Mark's has been in partnership with St. Luc's School in Mercery, Haiti. Over 300 students from Pre-K through Grade Seven call St. Luc's home. St. Mark's provides funding for teachers' salaries and a hot meal each day for all the students. We are also in relationship with the administrators of the school, learning and sharing with them about how we might continue to support them in our partnership.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    Occasional meetings and fundraisers, plus time spent in prayer for our partners at St. Luc's School.

  • Nursery helpers partner with the paid nursery supervisor to watch over children under age three on Sunday mornings. If you like to hold babies, this ministry is for you!

    TIME COMMITMENT

    1 Sunday a month from 9-11:30am

    CERTIFICATIONS

    • Safe Church Training

    • Public Records Check

  • Godly Play mentors share stories using the Godly Play method; children respond to wondering questions, then engage in “work” (self-directed creative play or art in response to the story), and then share a feast. Godly Play classes run during the school year from 10-10:45am.

    The Godly Play ethos believes that children already have a unique and special relationship with God, and it is the mentors’ job to instill the language of Christian belief so the children can explore that relationship in many ways.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    Rotation of Sundays, 9:30-11am plus time for preparation

    CERTIFICATIONS

    • Godly Play Core Training

    • Safe Church Training

    • Public Records Check

  • Godly Play doorpersons support the day's storyteller by greeting the children as they come into the room, readying the feast, helping with "work" time, and generally doing whatever they can so the mentor can concentrate on the story and the circle of children. This role does not take nearly as much formal training as the mentor role.

    The Godly Play ethos believes that children already have a unique and special relationship with God, and it is the mentors’ job to instill the language of Christian belief so the children can explore that relationship in many ways.

    TIME COMMITMENT

    Rotation of Sundays, 9:45-10:45am