Our Ministers

Bishop Croneberger
Rector Randall Day
Music Director Cleveleand Kersh

Lay Ministry

The ministry of St. Mark's Church is principally accomplished by the laity. All people of God are the ministers and are actively engaged in occupations throughout the region.

We believe that all are called to share in Christ's priesthood in the world, working for the reconciliation of the world to God. This is not something that happens primarily at church or in isolation, but in all that we do.

We recognize the diverse means and settings in which we experience, encourage, and support relationship with God – at home, in our workplaces, in our relationships and in many other involvements. In addition to vocational ministries, St. Markers minister through a wide range of community service, political, arts, and advocacy activities. Important relationships are also key vocational commitments.

Throughout the year, we lift up with special prayers and blessings the primary ministries of the people of St. Mark's: the arts, business, finance, law, public service, nurture and formation of children and youth, education, health care, healing, and relationships. Our educational and spiritual programs and small groups are designed to strengthen our awareness and response to God's call.

Lay leaders of St. Mark's Church include the Wardens, Vestry, Treasurer, and committee and guild chairs. The whole lay leadership group collaborates with clergy and other specialized ministers to set and accomplish the goals of the parish.

Laity also minister in a wide range of parish-based worship, outreach, education, and service roles. These important ministries are additional opportunities for expression of the life of the Holy Spirit active in each of us individually and in our corporate life as a faith community.

Ordained and Specialized Ministry

The Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith, Tenth Bishop of Newark

The Right Rev. Mark Beckwith was elected the Tenth Bishop of Newark on September 23, 2006. He was consecrated as Bishop of Newark on January 27, 2007 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ

Prior to his election, Mark Beckwith was Rector of All Saints Church, Worcester, Massachusetts, in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts since 1993. He also served as Associate Rector of St. Peter¡¦s, Morristown and Rector of Christ Church, Hackensack. Mark is a 1973 graduate of Amherst College, and a 1978 graduate of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. While in the Diocese of Newark, Mark was a co-founder of Morris Shelter, Inc. and a co-founder and first President of the Inter-Religious Fellowship of the Homeless in Bergen County.

Mark has been married to Marilyn Olson since 1982, and they are the parents of two recent college graduates: Christine and Paul.

The Rev. Randall C.K. Day, Priest and Rector

The Reverend Randall Carl Kidder Day was ordained a deacon in June, 1985 by The Right Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold, III, when he was Bishop Coadjutor of Chicago. On December 19 of that year Randall was ordained a priest by The Right Reverend James Winchester Montgomery, Bishop of Chicago, in St. Andrew's Church, Downers Grove, Illinois, where he was serving as Curate.

Randall is the son of Marion Elizabeth Kidder Day and Robert Bryson Day, born May 23, 1955.

Randall grew up mostly in Illinois and, for a brief time, in Missouri. Graduating from high school in 1973, Randall enrolled at Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While at ORU, Randall found his way to the Episcopal Church. The move from Methodism to the Episcopal Church was like coming home, the sacramental aspect of the Episcopal Church completing what was lacking in the church of his childhood years.

During college summers, Randall worked at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico as a backpacking guide, becoming Chief Ranger, heading the group of 200 guides that served 16,000 campers each summer. From 1974 through 1980, the Sangre de Christo Mountains of New Mexico were Randall's singular passion and every moment that could be stolen from any other activity or connection was spent there.

Following graduation from ORU in English Literature with a Telecommunications Minor, Randall completed a Master of Arts degree in Modern Letters with emphases in writing, editing and publishing at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In 1980 Randall moved to Alaska to manage five sport fishing lodges in the Katmai National Park. Two years later he left Alaska with a rising awareness of a growing call to seriously explore the possibility of ordained ministry, a deep yearning that he had harbored since childhood.

In the autumn of 1982 Randall enrolled at Nashotah House with the permission of Bishop Montgomery, beginning the ordination process in the Diocese of Chicago at the same time.

Nashotah House had a focus on forming parish priests with a strong emphasis on community life and faith centered at both the altar and the dining table, with prayer and physical work both being seen as sacred and necessary parts of the Christian life. Daily chapel attendance at Morning Prayer, Evensong and daily Eucharist was expected, with seminarians filling all liturgical functions except presiding at the Eucharist.

While at Nashotah, Randall served as the President of the Mission Board (the student government) and as the representative of his class on the hospitality committee for community dinners and other events. He graduated with honors on his 30th birthday in 1985, heading towards being a Curate in the Diocese of Chicago following his ordination the next month.

After three years at St. Andrew's Church in Downers Grove, Illinois, the final year and a half as Priest-in-Charge, Randall left the Diocese of Chicago for Washington, D.C. and work as Executive Director of the Canterbury Cathedral Trust in America (CCTA), a non-profit organization linked to Canterbury Cathedral in England. The organization provided educational and spiritual programs and publications internationally. For nine years Randall worked with CCTA, traveling extensively in England and throughout the United States on behalf of Canterbury Cathedral and the programs of the American Trust. At the same time, Randall served several parishes in the Diocese of Washington as interim priest and associate. His Washington work also included work as Adjunct Clergy of the Washington National Cathedral and Associate Faculty of the College of Preachers there.

In 1998 Randall became Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Teaneck. He has served in the Diocese of Newark on Diocesan Council, the Congregational Vitality Working Group, Ward J. Herbert Fund Board, Lay Ministry Subcommittee of the Commission on Ministry, and Nominating Committee for the 10 th Bishop of Newark. He is completing a Doctorate in Ministry in Congregational Development at Seabury Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

Randall participates in two annual workshops to apply insights of family systems theory to pastoral ministry. He enjoys the arts, physical fitness activities, gardening, golf and reading fiction, spirituality and theology. His partner since 1991 is William Hurbaugh.

Mr. Cleveland E. Kersh , Director of Music and Organist

Cleveland Kersh is currently a Master's candidate in organ performance and musicology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, having received his Bachelor's of Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton. In addition to his work at St. Mark's, Cleve is Organist at Anshe Emeth Synagogue in New Brunswick, program annotator for several churches and choirs in New York and New Jersey, and a freelance choral singer and accompanist.