Much like the story of Coventry, the story of St Marks is one of restoration and transformation.
Encouraged by the rapid growth of the student population in Coventry, the Bishop of Coventry approached Holy Trinity Brompton in 2016 with an idea. An idea that would plant a ‘City Centre Resource Church’ in the heart of this expanding community with a view to evangelise and transform the city.
St Marks was chosen as the location for this new initiative. Being close to the city centre, many of the student halls of residence and in an area of deprivation and poverty, it seemed like the ideal place. There was just one slight hurdle to overcome – St Marks had been closed for 45 years!
While not being used for a Church, the building had been used for all sorts of purposes, as a medical centre and even for storage! But after a lot of love and attention St Marks became home to our Church and we launched on 1st October 2017.
We quickly grew in number and now we have two gatherings on a Sunday, we run programmes for Kids, Youth and Students as well as a number of Connect groups to build and unite us in community. We run a termly Alpha, providing a safe space for people to ask the big questions of life. We partner with a local charity - Carriers of Hope - and support a number of other initiatives across the city including Embrace, CAP and Covenant and Kingdom
And.. we’re just getting started.
We would love you to join the adventure with us!
Our Vision
Our vision is for St. Marks to be and to bring ‘Life in the City’. This is based on john 10:10 and expresses our desire for people in our city to experience life in all its fullness, which, of course, is ultimately found in relationship with Jesus. This works out in three different ways:
To See People Find Faith
We are a community that encourages and enables everyone to find faith.
From our church services, Alpha, to the daily interaction of our community; we long to see people encounter Jesus.
Everyone is looking for how to live well, or have life to its fullness. We believe that can only be found in relationship with Jesus, and so we are committed to encouraging people to find faith.
St Augustine summed this up in 400CE by writing: ‘our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Jesus.’
To See People Set Free
We are here to see people set free and become all they were intended to be.
There are many things that can we can encounter in life that are harmful to our relationship with Jesus and others. From things that we do ourselves, or are done to us, to unhealthy character traits and destructive habits.
We exist to see people set free from things that hold us back, and into what God has called and gifted each individual in.
We release and encourage people in their God given gifting, as we each have a part to play in God’s masterplan on earth.
All of this happens in the local community, as transformed people, in a transformed community, transform places.
To See the City of Coventry Flourish
We LOVE Coventry. It is an incredible city filled with wonderful people with a vibrant history.
The world looks to Coventry’s story of reconciliation lead through the restorative work of Coventry Cathedral.
It is the city of culture of 2021 which has spurred massive re-developments across the city.
Home of Jaguar & Land Rover, and an expanding electronics and gaming industry.
Home of Warwick, Coventry and Nexus universities, which see 30,000 students come into the city.
We LOVE our city and want to play our part in seeing it be a place of the Kingdom of God. We have numerous partner charities that we support with finances and volunteers. Each one has an unique mission in Coventry and it is our joy to partner and create initiatives to see the city Flourish.
A CHURCH THAT PLANTS CHURCHES
Not only this but we have been blessed to resource two further Church plants within the Coventry Diocese. In September 2021 we sent out a team, led by Matt Spina, into St Peters, Hillfields and in May 2022 a team, led by Paul Pavlou, to Risen Christ in Wyken. We are excited to support and champion these Churches in their stories to come.
Our vision has remained unchanged; we want to see people find faith in Jesus. We want to see people set free to become all they were intended to be. We want to see our city flourish.
We want you to join in with us and God on this wonderful adventure!
Our Partners
