Library & Archives Ministry

As St. Mary’s has grown from a mission into a thriving mature congregation, we have made a conscious effort to stay aware of our past even as we move toward a very promising future.

With this in mind, we have been attempting to collect, organize, and preserve the various documents which represent significant moments in our life as a Christian community. We have set aside a space for storage of these documents, and we look forward to cataloguing them and making them available to the members. At the same time, we also have a very comfortable library, with hundreds of books and films—many of them on matters of religion, of course, but also including some history, psychology, sociology, and even some humor (who says we’re the “chosen frozen”?).

As Episcopalians, we value God-given reason as the third leg of our foundation (along with scripture and tradition), and we encourage our members to be informed and open-minded as part of the mind of Christ.

Chair: Jim Broome
Vestry Liaisons:
Hoyt Wheeler, Bob Hayden
meets quarterly 4th Monday 6:30

MEMBERSHIP MINISTRY
Members of St. Mary’s are frequently asked, “What’s your ministry?” The assumption is that as we grow in our commitment to a Christ-like life, we will recognize that each of us is called to do something to serve Christ in his church, whether at St. Mary’s or in the larger community. St. Mary’s strives to provide its members with the means to discover this calling in their lives. We also offer opportunities to combine our own mission with that of St. Mary’s to enhance the impact of our ministry. The emphasis is not on the ministry of St. Mary’s to us, but on the ministry of ourselves to others through St. Mary’s.

MISSION AND OUTREACH MINISTRY
One of the most active of St. Mary’s Committees, the Mission and Outreach Committee extends the loving hands and hearts of St. Mary’s into the Irmo and Columbia communities, as well as to the furthest corners of the world. Locally we support Sharing God’s Love, Shepherd’s Center, Habitat for Humanity, Homeworks, and many, many other caring organizations, both with financial support and with volunteer workers. Internationally, St. Mary’s is a sponsor of our Haynes family’s mission in Thailand, and perhaps most notably the several projects and individuals whom we support in Haiti. We also respond to international concerns and natural disasters through the Presiding Bishop’s fund for world relief and other organizations. All of this perhaps softens the hearts of individual members, prompting us to the constant small acts of kindness which is our mandate from St. Mary herself: “Whatever He says, do it.”

COMMUNICATION MINISTRY
These dedicated servants of the community offer their expertise to help design and produce the various publications and information sources for St. Mary’s. Increasingly, communication is dependent on the new media: the internet, this website, e-mail, and so on. However, we still have more traditional forms of communication which have to be composed and distributed, such as the service bulletins, the newsletter, and various special mailings. All of this comes under the purview of the communication committee and its various sub-committees. We are always happy to hear suggestions as to how to improve our communication with each other to enable our corporate worship in His church.