We give thanks for the life of Peter Mark Scott, Minister of Music and Organist at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth, TX. A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on November 1, at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth.
Mr. Peter Mark Scott, St. Stephen, Fort Worth’s Minister of Music and Organist for almost forty years, entered the joy of God’s heavenly worship Friday, October 17, 2014, at around 5:30 a.m.
Mr. Scott’s creativity, talent, and faithfulness shaped St. Stephen’s unique style of worship. His organ music and choir direction conveyed the mystery and majesty of God.
Several generations of St. Stephen children had their appreciation for music and the gospel shaped by Mr. Scott’s humorous but always disciplined way with children. One of his greatest joys was teaching children and youth.
Mr. Scott was a gifted church musician and choir director, but he was also a pastor to many, and the stabilizing rock of this church through the last forty years. His strong will, sharp wit, and confidence in God served a reassuring and even visionary role to parishioners in good times and bad.
“For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14: 7-8). Mr. Scott lived his life for the sake of Christ and St. Stephen, giving himself freely and joyfully to the church and its mission for decades. While we mourn his loss, we rejoice that Mark has joined his talents to that choir of saints and martyrs who worship God eternally in God’s Kingdom, in that place where suffering is ended and there is only eternal joy in the Lord.
Please keep Mr. Scott’s sister, Sue, in your prayers. Thanks also to the many close friends who attended to his needs in the last weeks of his life. A service of witness to the resurrection is November 1 at 2:00 pm.
Grace and Peace,
The Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch III
Pastor
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth
From Fort Worth AGO:
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Our long-time loyal chapter member, Mark Scott, died around 5:30 a.m. on Friday, October 17, 2014. Mark served as Dean of our chapter, 1996-1998, and for over forty years has served as Minister of Music and Organist at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. Our chapter has lost a treasure. May he rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon him.
Memorial Service
2 p.m., Saturday, November 1, 2014
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
2700 McPherson Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76109
If you would like to sing in the service, please do the following:
Attend a portion of one of the Sanctuary Choir general choir rehearsals before November 1, on either Thursday, October 23 or Thursday, October 30 at 7:15 p.m. (note thatthe rehearsal will already be in progress). The choir room is located on the 2nd floor of the Education Building on the south end of the campus (the balcony of the Parish Hall).
Attend a rehearsal at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, at 11:30 a.m. The church will provide a light lunch at 11:30 a.m. for the choristers, and the rehearsal will begin promptly at 12:00 noon. You may optionally bring your choir/organist vestments (robes) from your current home church. All are encouraged to participate in the processional and recessional; however, choir vestments (robes) are NOT required.
Contact Peggy Wadley through the church office so that we can get an accurate count for music folders and lunch. Please place in subject line: Memorial Singer, and send to the church email: adm@ststephen-pcusa.com
Mark Scott was a Nordan Fine Arts Scholar at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth where he earned two degrees: Organ Performance (1975) and Church Music (1975). He completed additional study at the Royal School of Church Music (England). His organ study was with Lydia Grey, Madeline Henshaw, and at TCU, with Emmet G. Smith. Choral studies at TCU were with B. R. Henson and Caro Carapeytan and private voice study with Desire Ligeti. He was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda in 1974. Since 1975, Mark Scott was the Minister of Music and Organist at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church where he was solely responsible for administration, teaching, conducting and accompanying a comprehensive music program including children’s, youth, handbell and adult choirs. He was also the founder/administrator of the St. Stephen Special Series, presenting ten to fifteen events each season including organ recitals, choral concerts, instrumental concerts and jazz concerts. In 1993, Scott oversaw the rebuilding of the sanctuary organ. In 2000, Mr. Scott was granted a sabbatical leave for the purpose of studying plainsong which he spent in America, Great Britain and France, culminating in a three-week stay at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre in Solesmes, France. He was the organ clinician at the annual Mo Ranch Music Conference. He was chairman of the board as well as a guest conductor for the Schola Cantorum of Texas. He was also interim conductor of the Arlington Choral Society for one season. Professional memberships included American Choral Directors Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, American Guild of Organists, The Organ Club (Great Britain), Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and PALT, a theological study group. Mr. Scott was chairman of the board of the Kinderplatz of Fine Arts, a Fort Worth school focused on learning through the arts.