Sarah Dingivin

About

Each of the Vestry members were asked to reflect on the following questions:

Describe your participation at St. Mark’s and/or in the community? Indicate experiences you think would be helpful to your time on vestry.
We moved to San Antonio in 2013 while we were still on active duty and started attending St. Mark's soon thereafter.  Initially, I became involved by volunteering during the Easter community lunch events and participating in Mind the Gap. After the birth of my daughters, I became more involved with activities St. Mark's offers young families, including Sunday school, where I enjoyed being a teacher, and children's choir. Last year I finished my first year of EfM and I look forward to continuing with my second year of the program during this academic year. I've also spent two years on the outreach grants discernment committee, serving as the chair during the 2023 cycle. In my professional life, I am the CEO/Executive Director of a volunteer legal services nonprofit, where I'm responsible for leading an organization with a $1 million budget and 12 full time employees and for working with community partners to help leverage legal talent to fill unmet needs in our local community.

Feeding San Antonio with the Bread of Life: feeding the hungry with real food; feeding those who are hungry for knowledge and meaning; and feeding those who are hungry for beauty and creativity is the core vocation of St. Mark’s. How do you envision the vestry working to support this vocation?

On the outreach grant discernment committee, we focus on the direct impact of St. Mark's financial support using our core vocation sub-parts. I love how these areas provide a helpful framework to determine how the church's effort and impact span multiple, at times competing, community needs. Looking at these three areas independently forced me to think differently about how EACH of these areas needs to be nurtured, even during difficult times when it is easy to just focus on one or two of them. I think the vestry's work should ensure that St. Mark's staff and parishioners can continue to shine a light on each of these vocational callings, opening new doors for enrichment to members of our community.

When did you join St. Mark’s and what continues to draw you to this community?​
I was initially drawn to St. Mark's because I was interested in joining a downtown church that was engaged in the community. I also was drawn to how St. Mark's welcomes individuals and families to participate in the church in ways that are meaningful to them. The breadth and depth of programming continues to make me want to invest more in this community.