Volunteer Opportunities and Events

WHAT: Beginning with the foundational initiative to develop a relationship between the communities of St. Mark’s and the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland, we are gradually developing programs which look more broadly at how we can increase our understanding and awareness of the history and experience of indigenous peoples and promote just public policies.

A core area of activity is our regular engagement with the members and clergy of the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland, and particularly St. Christopher’s Mission in the southeast corner of Utah. This includes creating opportunities in the St. Mark’s community for increased awareness and understanding in ourselves and our institutions of historical and contemporary experiences and their impact on indigenous peoples in the United States. These activities have included:

  • Shared commemoration of Veterans Day 2022 with the dedication of a flagpole that St. Mark’s gifted to St. Christopher’s and attending the dedication of the National Native American Veterans’ Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian in DC.
  • An online book group on Navajo code talkers with participation from the St. Christopher’s and St. Mark’s communities.
  • Two pilgrimage trips by St. Mark’s youth to the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland and St. Christopher’s Mission in the summers of 2023 and 2025; and hosting 6 youth and adults in D.C. from St. Christopher’s in the summer of 2024.
  • The second area of interest is expanding our understanding of the Native experience in North America and contemporary issues facing indigenous people and communities. Some of our recent activities have included:
    • Participation in online sessions of the workshop “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change—Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples,” including hosting an in-person session in our nave Spring 2025.
    • A group trip to the Folger Shakespeare Library to see Where We Belong, an autobiographical drama about reconciling classic literature with “centuries of Mohegan history and colonialist oppression.”
    • Building a connection with the Episcopal Indigenous Justice Roundtable within the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery

    Activities planned for 2025-26 include more involvement in the public policy arena, partnering with organs of the Episcopal Church of the USA and other groups; outreach to Native American nations in the DC area; a Christian Education class on the dialogue between Native American spirituality and Christian doctrine/traditions; and a second visit by Navajoland youth to Washington, DC, in the summer of 2026.

    Learn about our partner churches at The Missionary Diocese of Navajoland.

    Points of contact at St. Mark’s: Steve Dalzell at dalzellsr@gmail.com and Kit Arrington at kit@tulsablue.com.