|
HISTORY OF ST. MARK In 1954-1955 St. Luke Lutheran Church considered options to deal with rapid growth. The United Lutheran Synod in Iowa recommended a separate mission church rather than a building expansion. In 1955-1956 Pastor Raymond A. Tiemeyer of St. Luke cooperated with the Iowa Synod in organizing a South East Mission among members of St. Luke living east of Lakeport. A planning committee of Paul Bechtol, Cliff Dudley, Elwyn Brakke, Rex Voils, H. A. Baak, and Donald Kelly called the Rev. Milton A. Eklund as Mission Developer in May of 1956 and the first Sunday worship service was held in the auditorium of Whittier School on June 10, 1956. That summer and fall the name St. Mark was chosen and the Sunday School, choir and women’s auxiliary were organized. A budget of $10,000 was approved. On December 2, 1956, St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church was formally constituted with 113 adult members and 55 child members.
The first Church Council approved purchase of 3 acres for a future building, and, in the meantime, church services and activities were held at Whittier School, at St. Luke, at the little house on the property, at the Latham Park clubrooms and at St. James Methodist Education wing. When the first parsonage was purchased in 1958, a small chapel there also hosted events. Pastor Eklund left for another call in October 1958, and the congregation called a seminary student, Robert A. Beckstrom, who did pulpit supply and pastoral calls while finishing his education. Pastor Beckstrom graduated, was ordained and was installed at St. Mark by June 1959. Fundraising for a building began that same month and $12,000 was committed in one-year pledges. Architect T. Norman Mansell designed a y-shaped three-wing church that could be built in units. The official groundbreaking for the first unit took place on September 11, 1960 and construction started the next day. On June 11, 1961, St. Mark held its final service at Whittier School, five years after the first service there, and the following Sunday the congregation processed from Whittier School to the new church building. The church had a nave that seated 175, a social hall in the basement, and office and classroom space. A final building fund drive raised $27,400 in two-year pledges and the church was dedicated on October 14, 1962. In November 1963 Pastor Beckstrom accepted another call, and the congregation called Pastor George M. Fisher. In 1965 St. Mark went off salary aid and purchased a new parsonage at 2601 So. Lyon St. By its 10th anniversary in 1966, St. Mark had grown into its own church building with an average attendance of 160 and a budget of $25,000. In August 1966 Pastor Fisher resigned and Pastor Eugene S. Henry began a seven-year ministry in February 1967. In 1968 a second church service was added on Sunday morning. In 1972 the second mortgage was refinanced to add air-conditioning to the parsonage and pave the upper parking lot. In 1973 two women, Erma Jahn and Jean Anderson, were elected to the Church Council and girls in the confirmation class began serving as acolytes. There was a ten-month vacancy after Pastor Henry took another call, and Pastor Jim Munson was installed in August of 1975. By its 20th anniversary in 1976, St. Mark had an average Sunday attendance of 186 and a budget of $50,000, and the church was considering an expansion. The first mortgage on the first building was retired in 1977 and fundraising for a second unit began. In April, 1970 groundbreaking for a second unit estimated at $300,000 took place and the second unit was completed in December 1979, providing a new sanctuary and new social hall, with expanded classroom and office space. The congregation supported the Woodbury County Home with visits and gifts, and residents worshipped regularly at St. Mark. The congregation had supported a refugee family and participated in the Adopt-a-family program and the Siouxland Lutheran Men Halfway House project. Pastor Munson was asked to seek another call in 1980 and Pastor John F. Hagberg was installed on September 13, 1981. As St. Mark celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1981, a Thursday morning Bible Study, clown ministry, ministry to re-singled adults and to alcoholics and support of missionaries in Chile were begun. In 1982 contemporary music was introduced and by 1985 the band Celebrate was fully formed. St. Mark also ended 1985 in the black and current on its mortgage. Lay people began to assist at communion services. By its 30th anniversary in 1986, St. Mark average attendance was 212 and its budget had surpassed $100,000. Youth representatives were added to the Church Council and a Parish Nurse program was begun. St. Mark actively supported a men’s softball team, the CROP walk, the Interfaith Food & Folk Festival, a Giving Tree, the Soup Kitchen, the ELCA World Hunger program, and the Siouxland Paint-a-thon. By its 35th anniversary, average attendance was 231 and the budget was over $150,000.St. Mark helped start the Siouxland Multicultural Ministry and gave Pastor Hagberg a sabbatical. In 1993 Beverly Wolff, AIM, was called as Minister of Family Life. A mid-week program for elementary children was organized. St. Mark celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1996 with the theme of " A New Church for a New Time." St. Mark developed an active partnership with St. Stephen Church, an African American Lutheran congregation on the south side of Chicago and with St. Dysmus and the Church of the Damascus Road, prison congregations of the ELCA in South Dakota and Iowa. Handbells were given as a memorial and a van was purchased. Pastor Hagberg took his second sabbatical and Bev Wolff took her first sabbatical. St. Mark partnered with Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and began a discussion of building expansion. In 2001 the congregation hired Ruble, Mamura, Moss & Brygger to design a new sanctuary, and in June 2002 construction of a $1,395,000 addition began. On August 24, 2003 the new sanctuary was dedicated and on November 23, 2003 we welcomed the people of Peace Reformed Church to use our space as they started their congregation. |
