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07/14/2021 08:30 AMEven though Mark Pilletere has served in ministry for the past 20 years, the past 18 months have been full of firsts for both Mark and the church he now serves, First Congregational Church of East Haven, which is best known as the Old Stone Church. Now, after finding creative solutions to continue worship through a pandemic, Mark is excited to have more face-to-face contact with both his parishioners and the community and welcome the congregation back into the church.
“It’s been great to now see a full face behind the voice after so long with mask-to-mask,” says Mark. “I consider myself a people person, so it was difficult not being able to visit people, even in the hospital, so it took a lot more work and using all areas of possible communication.”
Mark first began talking with the search committee at the Old Stone Church in January 2020 after the church where he previously served moved to a part-time pastor due to financial limitations. He was called to service for the congregation in March 2020, just as COVID began to shut the world down.
Mark and those at the church then had to get creative in finding ways to continue worship services, Bible studies, and community outreach. Old Stone Church began to host parking lot worship services with Mark using a public address system. With dozens of cars showing up each week, the church then purchased an FM transmitter so people could listen to services on their radio. The parking lot services continued through November 2020.
“We were trying to pull the church back together and let people know that the Old Stone Church was still very busy and active even in the midst of everything going on,” says Mark. “Where else can you go to church in your pajamas in your car while drinking your coffee? We averaged 25 to 40 cars in the parking lot with at least two people per car. The church hadn’t seen those kind of numbers in a number of years.”
In addition to the parking lot services, worship was also streamed on Facebook Live. The church continued to host children’s Bible study as well as Bible study for adults via Zoom. Mark credits members of his congregation for coming together in order to bring those technologies to the church.
“We had to catch up with modern times and it was definitely a learning curve,” says Mark. “We had a member who did a great job getting everything set up for us and the folks here welcomed the technology.”
With restrictions easing and worship services able to be held indoors, Mark has seen that some of the changes made during COVID are here to stay. While in-person attendance has been steady around 30 to 40 people, he has seen that the services are also being viewed by another few dozen people online.
There have been other in-person events as well as in-person Bible study which has resumed and the church hosted its 48th annual flea market on June 26. The flea market was the first larger-scale social event that Mark has gotten to experience as a leader of the church. Though the event was smaller than in past years, Mark enjoyed meeting even more people in the community.
Community involvement and outreach is part of what drew Mark to Old Stone Church in the first place. From the first conversations with the community ministry of the church, he remembers being impressed with the various ways the church gives back, including prenatal and birthing classes, global outreach, various drives for local organizations, food donations for the food pantry, and more.
“Seeing all the members do in and for the community is a breath of fresh air,” says Mark, who lives in Berlin. “It’s a church that’s community-focused and that recognizes the blessings they have received.”
Mark has seen that the Old Stone Church community extends beyond the congregation. Last summer, a committee decided to initiate a drive to raise $30,000 for a new air conditioning system that would allow services to move inside and reached its goal within two weeks. Then in December, a power issue caused the steeple lights to go out.
“People began to ask why the steeple wasn’t lit and we put a call out to the community for the funds to repair them and before we knew it, checks started coming in and by the week before Christmas, the lights were shining again,” says Mark. “It’s bigger than the congregation. The community knows the Old Stone—people have been married, baptized, and buried here. When I talk to openly in the community about Old Stone Church, everyone has words of love to share about the place and that’s a good thing.”
Though Mark has been in the ministry for 20 years, he didn’t find his calling until later in life. After graduating from high school in 1974, he spent a year working at the factory where his dad worked with the goal of one day taking over his father’s job. The factory closed and Mark decided to join the Army, serving for 12 years.
Mark had always been active in church and after marrying Jean, they decided that they would raise their children in church. The family continued to worship and volunteer and friends began to encourage Mark to pursue ministry.
“Some people began to ask me if I’d ever considered ministry and tell me that they felt I had a gift,” says Mark. “I was volunteering at a summer camp where my wife was a nurse and it was then that I made the decision that it was time to enter ministry.”
Mark then concurrently completed his bachelor’s degree while attending seminary school in Maine, earning a master’s in divinity. Though those years were a challenge, he credits his wife and their two daughters for their support. Their daughters are both now grown and the couple also has two granddaughters.
After seminary, Mark served at a church in East Millinocket, Maine, before being called to Connecticut. Over the years, he served at congregations in Norwich, Waterbury, Torrington, and Berlin before coming to East Haven.
Mark has also begun to make community connections. He is a chaplain for the East Haven Police Department and also gave the opening prayer on the East Haven Town Green for the annual Memorial Day ceremony.
In addition to preparing for his Sunday sermon, Mark has been getting back into the swing of being able to visit those in the community as recommendations allow and people become vaccinated and comfortable with visitors. He also hosts a weekly Facebook Live broadcast called “Just Thinking.”
Services are held Sundays at 10 a.m. in the newly renovated and air conditioned Fellowship Hall, featuring an 84-inch television screen for added communication and highlights. The service is also available on YouTube and airs on ETV (local television station) at 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
“This church is a loving place in the midst of our differences, it’s a place where one can truly feel the presence of God and a presence of love when they walk through door,” says Mark. “It’s a warm, welcoming place and I also have to thank the church and the community for being so welcoming to me and my family. To serve as their pastor is a blessing.”
For information about worship services, rental space, Early Learning Center, Village Daycare, and future events, call the church office at 203-467-2907 or the schools at 203-467-0661.