BtB turns 2

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This is a write up by Skip Kasdorf, 
long-time member and promoter of St. Mark's, Houston
 
St. Mark’s Between the Bayous Celebrates Second Anniversary
On December 2, the first Sunday in Advent, St. Mark’s Between the Bayous celebrated the second anniversary of its founding with a fundraiser at Liberty Station for victims of Hurricane Sandy that included live music and improvised comedy, concluding with a worship service.
St. Mark’s Between the Bayous is an outreach initiative of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 3816 Bellaire Blvd. The Rev. James Derkits, then associate rector at St. Mark’s, held the first informal gathering and Eucharistic service at Block 7, a wine bar, on November 28, 2010, relying on word of mouth to attract people who might be disinclined to worship in a traditional manner.
Derkits recently wrote: “The goal of Between-the-Bayous is not to become another Episcopal church in Houston. It is to be a between place for people at interesting places on their spiritual journey. It may be a place to worship and find new spiritual direction for a lifelong Episcopalian, or it may be a place to test the religious waters for someone who has never been involved in a spiritual community. Our statement of belonging is, ‘If you come here, you belong. If you belong, you lead an intentional life.’ It is a place to be between—between secular and sacred; between church and non-church.”
The second service for St. Mark’s Between the Bayous was held at McMurtry Gallery. By early 2011, when it moved to Multicultural Education & Counseling through the Arts (MECA, 1900 Kane St.), it had celebrated two baptisms and attendance was growing. It began building relationships with such Washington Avenue Corridor stalwarts as Catalina Coffee, Liberty Station, Slow Dough Bakery, and Saint Arnold and Karbach breweries. Over a period of months, in addition to regular Sunday discussions and worship services, it netted more than $3,000 in a Bastrop Wildfire Fundraiser at Karbach Brewery and held “pop-up church” summer services at six homes, an art gallery, and a bar over the span of eight weeks.
This year, when the Rev. Eric Hungerford succeeded Derkits as associate rector at St. Mark’s, he assumed responsibility for coordinating St. Mark’s Between the Bayous. “The bottom line” he said, “is that we are an eclectic, Episcopal community who value diversity and an open sharing of ideas. We were conceived of as a means of appealing to people—particularly young Houstonians in the arts community—who didn’t necessarily grow up in church. This is probably expressed most fully in the way that we do our sermons: the preacher speaks for about five minutes and then invites the congregation to share their own stories and ideas about the gospel reading.”
About the fundraiser and service on December 2, Hungerford said: “It was held at Liberty Station on Washington Avenue. We had a couple of musical acts play on a stage on the front patio. Matt Puckett, a member of the Austin Band Mother Falcon, played a set for us. Jim Meyers and Bryan Gregory, from local Houston band Jim and the Toms, performed. And we had some improv comedy by members of local Houston comedy group Station Theater. Then we had a Eucharist at Liberty Station in the room adjacent to the bar. The Very Rev. Pittman McGehee preached, and about 30 people crammed into the little room. In all, we raised some $500 for a nonprofit in Brooklyn that’s doing a lot to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. It’s a Lutheran organization called Trinity Services and Food for the Homeless.”
St. Mark’s Between the Bayous continues to grow. In addition to its Sunday services at MECA (1900 Kane St.), it offers a Tuesday night discussion group at Liberty Station Bar (2101 Washington) and irregular Monday or Wednesday night “Food, Not Bombs” dinners for the homeless at the downtown library.
St. Mark’s Between the Bayous is a work in progress—open to new ideas and new perspectives, but anchored in a sense that, as Hungerford says, “We’re headed somewhere—perhaps not where we thought we were going, but where we need to be.”


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