St. Mark’s United Methodist Church

St. Mark’s is an open, inclusive, intergenerational, and progressive community of faith which actively serves the Clairemont community and city of San Diego. As a United Methodist Church, we believe that God is reaching out to all people at all times with inviting, reconciling, and nurturing grace, which compels us to also welcome and embrace all people. Our purpose as a church, rooted in Christ’s love, is to restore hope, empower community, and continually grow in grace.

The Sunday morning worship service at 9:30 a.m. in our stunning sanctuary combines the best aspects of awe-inspiring music, mainline Protestant ritual, and a warm approachability. Each week’s sermon provides historical context and theological insight to our ancient scriptures in hope that God’s consolation and guidance for us today may be more easily heard and understood. We sing traditional hymns accompanied on the pipe organ or piano, and partake of Holy Communion together on the first Sunday of each month.

What United Methodists believe…
The primacy of grace, which is God’s initiating love. It runs ahead of our conscious impulses and is always present.

What is traditionally called “holiness,” which means orienting ourselves toward justice, truth, and peace, is the natural response to grace.

Each person is endowed with inherent worth as a created being, bearing God’s image. The most-essential and central characteristic of all human beings is dignity, which we celebrate and uphold as we practice compassion and reach out with love to all.

“Conversion” or “new birth,” are traditional names for the profound personal experience of the workings of divine grace. This might look different for each of us, in our own time, and whether or not it is acknowledged publicly.

Faith and good works belong together and are mutually reinforcing.

We celebrate the diversity of God’s creation and all humanity, trusting that we were made for one another to live in community. We acknowledge that different understandings of God and God’s work in our lives grow out of very different circumstances, life experiences, and worldviews, and all are necessary in the body of Christ.