Welcome from the Rector

Father Paul Lillie, Rector

Aloha on behalf of the people of St. Mark's. Welcome to our website, and we look forwarding to welcoming you in person at our church.

A generous 'ohana, St. Mark's is a growing and inclusive church within the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i, and we enjoy celebrating our Anglo-Catholic heritage and our Hawaiian mission roots.  The patron of St. Mark's is Queen Emma, the wife of King Kamehameha IV. The Holy Sovereigns invited the Church of England to the Hawaiian Islands, and Queen Emma is known for her many works of support and advocacy for the poor and sick. She died on St. Mark's Day, April 25, in 1885.

We are a diverse parish, representing the many different peoples of O'ahu. It is our faith in Jesus Christ, expressed through our Anglo-Catholic spirituality, which unites us.  When we come together for the Eucharist, we become one in Christ. Since 1908 St. Mark's has been ministering the love of Christ to the neighborhoods of Kapahulu and Diamond Head in Honolulu. We also now serve the neighborhood of Waikiki, and on a typical Sunday, tourists and seasonal visitors worship with us too.

Whether you are new to the church, local, or visiting, please join us.

Father Paul Lillie
Rector, St. Mark's Episcopal Church

 

News from the Rector

Rector's Journal
From the Rector: Remaining Faithful
From the Rector: Remaining Faithful

Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who helped with our celebrations of All Saints and All Souls. We are fortunate that we are able to celebrate both of these feasts, and thereby honor the themes of each. That being said, changing the church over from All Saints to All Souls within such a short period of time was not an easy task for the Altar Guild. I am grateful for the hard work of our worship and music volunteers.

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From the Rector: All Hallows Blessings
From the Rector: All Hallows Blessings

We have a truly wonderful weekend ahead of us, and personally, All Hallows-tide is one of my favorite times of the year. I have never understood those Christians who attack Halloween, for I have always understood it as an opportunity to mock death with costumes and frivolity. In its truest sense, Halloween is simply the Eve of All Hallows or All Saints - one of the greatest feast days of the church year.

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From the Rector: Restoring Our Vision for Jesus Christ
From the Rector: Restoring Our Vision for Jesus Christ

One of the things I am noticing more and more among people, is that their lives are consistently governed by things beyond their control, and as a result, they find themselves unhappy with what they must do, while also being annoyed by what they are not able to do. It leads to a state of constant restlessness or unfulfillment, and it is a state of being which is dangerous for mental health if it continues for too long.

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From the Rector: All Hallows-tide
From the Rector: All Hallows-tide

The days are becoming shorter as the sun rises later and the daylight fades earlier. Soon November will be upon us, and we will be celebrating All Hallows-tide. All Hallows, All Saints, and All Souls have been called the fall triduum or three days, reminiscent of the final three days of Holy Week. Similar to Holy Week, death and resurrection are prominent themes, but in this case the focus is not simply on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but on the lives of saints and souls of the Christian faith throughout the ages.

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From the Rector: The Eye of the Needle
From the Rector: The Eye of the Needle

This Sunday's Gospel from Mark is about how hard it is for those who worship wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus states, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God"

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From the Rector: A Concert, Pet Blessing, and some Divorce
From the Rector: A Concert, Pet Blessing, and some Divorce

We have quite the confluence of activities this weekend at the church. On Friday night the choir is offering a concert of sacred and secular music at 7:00 pm. They have been working especially hard these past few weeks, and all are invited to the concert. A reception follows the concert in the Parish Hall.

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