Participants in St. Mark's Methodist Church's "Shine" program enjoy the monthly first Thursday event, which offers an evening of fellowship, Bible study and activity for adults with cognitive challenges. The church, located at 1101 Jasper Drive, has been a shining light to its members and throughout the community through the church's various programs.

MARSHALL — Being a shining light in their church and community while sharing the love of Jesus Christ is the mission of St. Marks Methodist Church at 1101 Jasper Drive in Marshall.

“First of all, we’ve got to serve ourselves, our own church. Then we got to serve our community, then we serve our town,” said the Rev. Milton Rodgers. “So the mission is: if we connect, grow and serve, we’ll transform lives through the power of Jesus Christ.”

That’s what Rodgers, who is approaching his first-year anniversary as pastor, said was his aim as the new church leader.

“When (speaking of) ‘growing,’ we’re talking about growing deeper into the word, deeper into our discipleship, growing in our congregation, growing into our community, and spreading across the town, and serving,” said Rodgers.

The church congregation has done just that through its various ministries, services and programs. Like most churches across the nation, it struggled with bouncing back following the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the ministry continues to grow stronger than before.

“We have, I would say, pretty much doubled in congregation size and worship attendance,” said Rodgers. “We have increased our Sunday school and discipleship.”

“We have a Sunday school small group, where we had seven. I think now we’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 or 30 on Sunday mornings at the 9 a.m. hour,” he shared. “That’s including the Young Disciples children’s ministry. That’s led by Sara Wilcox.”

Rodgers said they’ve also welcomed new members this year. Within four months of his January arrival, alone, he was honored to conduct three baptisms.

“God is good,” said Rodgers.

Rodgers, who is originally from Marshall, is thrilled that God called him back to his hometown to do pastoral ministry at the local church. The pastor said he, along with his wife Regina Rodgers, are grateful to be a part of the St. Mark’s Methodist Church family.

“The mission of the church and the people in the church are the most important part,” the pastor said. “We come with a good leadership in the church already present. The mission was to put a halfway decent pastor with a leadership in the church.”

“It’s been working through God’s plan of that,” said Rodgers. “I believe that we reach out in so many different ways.”

The pastor said another key part of the church’s mission is to reflect a multicultural congregation, which is what they’ve been blessed to see.

“I think that’s a great part of St. Mark’s,” said Rodgers.

In a world where Sunday mornings are the most segregated around the world, seeing a multicultural congregation worship together is refreshing, he expressed.

“Sunday mornings, we all — whether it be African-American or Caucasian churches — that’s the most segregated time when we spread out,” said Rodgers.

“But now we’re spreading here,” he shared, noting St. Mark’s services consists of attendees of various ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds. “We’re all coming together as one — from all different ages, all different backgrounds. We have from wealthy to middle class, to everyday working class. We cover it all here.”

“I think that’s a real strength of the church. And I think that goes to a lot of why the church is growing,” said Rodgers.

Dana Havron, a longtime member and elder of the church, is also excited about the church’s growth.

“We’re supposed to reach out and serve and do — not just sit here,” he said of churches, in general. “We’re supposed to go out. That’s what we’re called to do.

“Like so many churches, COVID really hurt. We were a little complacent. We were still here, but we needed to kind of get refocused,” he said. “We’ve always had a really active congregation, and we’ve been really active in the community for a church our size.”

The congregation is thrilled to have Rodgers join their church family to help contribute to the growth of the ministry.

“Because of COVID we were down and Milton certainly brought a refreshing spirit of enthusiasm here, and I think our church welcomed him with open hearts,” said Havron.

Rodgers said it’s a team effort at the church, which is a blessing.

“We see it as teaming together and doing ministry. It’s not me doing it or them doing it. We came together and teamed up together in ministry,” the pastor said. “And I gotta be more fortunate pastor on the face of the earth. The love and the openness when I got here, that’s not always the case (in churches). But St. Mark’s direction is going (great). It’s not about individuals, it’s about serving the Lord and reaching and connecting the people; so it’s great.”

Havron said the church’s primary focus has been implementing outreach efforts in their own neighborhood.

“It’s to reach not just our church, but just to let people know who we are and that we’re here for them,” he said. “We’ve been having as many activities on our campus as we can. We had an after-school end-of-the-year party for the neighborhood. We had a Wednesday night neighborhood gathering. We invited people in the three or four block area and we cooked hamburgers and said let’s fellowship together.”

In October, the church held a fall festival for the neighborhood children. Every Friday, the church hosts a “Neighborhood Block Party” where they serve treats, including popcorn and other goodies to youth, every week.

“We’re just stepping out again. Our main focus is to reach those in our neighborhood,” said Havron.

Shine Ministry

The church also continues to be active in the city as a whole. One of the programs the church is most proud of is the monthly “Shine” program that offers adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities an evening of fellowship amongst their peers while giving caregivers and parents a time of respite. The event is held every first Thursday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m.

“What’s the great part about Shine is it’s (catered to) adults with intellectual disabilities and our church family helps support the meals and everything,” said Rodgers. “It’s a great program.”

“It’s a spin-off from the Night to Shine (prom event for individuals with special needs),” Havron explained. “When we originally started it, the primary purpose was for the parents of special needs adults, to let them bring their folks to us, and have a night off where the parents could go have a respite. That’s how it started. It’s blossomed quite a bit from that.”

Havron said it’s been a rewarding program for all involved, especially the attendees who have all become friends.

“We obviously enjoy the people,” he said. “They all know each other. They can come and fellowship together; they can have a meal, get a Bible lesson and do some crafts. It’s a good night out for them, and it’s a good night out for the parents.”

Rodgers echoed his sentiments.

“To see their faces light up when they come here to meet with their friends and be with their friends (is fulfilling),” said Rodgers. “I’ve seen parents that got that look on their face that says this has been a tough week and I need that time away; and this is a safe place.”

The church has seen the Shine program grow from a small group of seven people to about 20 now. The church invites more individuals who could benefit from the program to join them.

“I will tell you this, we all get as much blessing out of it as they do,” said Havron.

The program was started in the church a few years ago by Patti (Owens) Brady, who grew up in the church and works with special needs clients in her role at Community Healthcore.

Her mother and St. Mark’s member, Cindy Owens, said the program is similar to what her daughter along with others implemented at Immanuel Baptist Church.

“They’re our guests,” Owens said of participants. “It’s a really big deal to not only us but to them too.”

Having a daughter also with special needs, Owens expressed how great it is to have a platform that allows for inclusion.

“I have a daughter with special needs and there was a time it was just really nothing here in Marshall to do and lot of times they were excluded,” she shared. “Now a lot of doors have been open. We’ve just become a little family. They’re a light to be around all the time.”

In addition to the monthly Shine program, Rodgers said the church continues its mission work in various other capacities, including providing supplies to the Asbury House Child Enrichment Center in Longview. The pastor volunteers at the center regularly, conducting chapel service.

“It’s spiritual-based, so they have children of all walks of life. I go over and do chapel with them.

Our Ladies of St. Mark’s, the women group here, they help supply needs for the daycare center,” said Rodgers.

Additionally, the St. Mark’s men ministry serves as the chapter sponsor of the nonprofit Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program, which converts donated deer into a nutritious meal for families in need.

“What we do is we encourage hunters in the area to harvest an extra deer and we have fundraisers throughout year where we fund having that deer processed,” noted Havron. “That meat is donated to Mission Marshall. We provided over 2,000 meals last year.”

For the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the church also feeds families by supplying a day’s meal. It’s something Rodgers said he’s enjoyed doing personally for the last three years for families in Marshall. He’s glad to combine the efforts with his St. Mark’s church family.

“We not only cook but deliver, too. It’s not just a frozen turkey; it’s a smoked turkey or a smoked ham. We smoke it here,” he said, noting they supply all of the fixings needed for a complete holiday meal, too.

This Christmas, the St. Mark’s Methodist men will serve as a sponsor for the angel tree, a program that helps provide gifts for children in need.

The church stays active with outreach missions year-round and offers plenty of opportunities for church fellowship.

“We have fun day once a month at the church where the members come and fellowship,” said Rodgers. “We have a prayer chain. We have Easter egg hunts. The ladies and men have a craft group here on Tuesdays. Of course we have a choir; and Monday morning Bible study led by Rick Long.”

The congregation has three Sunday school classes on Sunday mornings, offering various platforms to study the Bible together.

“One is like a small group, so it’s an open conversation of the scripture that we preach that Sunday,” said Rogers.

“It usually ties in and helps them be more engaged,” added Havron.

An Invitation

The church welcomes all to come and join them as they continue their mission of being a shining light, in their community.

“Come out and be a part and join us as we grow in that mission statement as we challenge people to engage openly in their faith and have a church family that can wrap their arms around and love them,” Rodgers encouraged.

Havron echoed his sentiments.

“There’s a Methodist slogan; it’s ‘Open hearts; open minds, open doors.’ That’s what we’re really about,” said Havron. “We’re a welcoming family church. If you can’t feel comfortable here, we’ve not done our job.”

Rodgers looks forward to continuing to carry out the mission with the congregation as its new pastor.

“There are pastors and preachers… I fall in that category of pastor. I do give a message on Sunday morning, but it doesn’t stop there,” said Rodgers. “I’m a pastor. I’m here for my congregation.

“I love my congregation and want to be involved with them, and their life, because we’re doing life together,” he beamed.