History

St. Mark’s had its beginnings in 1819, when a group of residents from the East End of York, then known
as Freysville, came together to hold Sunday school in the German language, on Sunday afternoons.

Sessions were held above the old Goodwill Fire House at 667 East Market Street, later moving to a
school house in the 1000 block. In 1870, a small frame chapel was built at 821 East Market Street.

Eleven years later, 24 persons attended the organizational meeting on October 31, 1881, and became
the charter members of the St. Mark’s Lutheran congregation.

In 1893, the church building that was to serve the congregation for seventy years was completed at 700
East Market Street, with the Sunday school building following in 1926.

Ground was broken for the present building on April 12, 1964, following the demolition of the original
church building.

Over its history, St. Mark’s has been blessed with a number of dedicated pastors, beginning with Rev.
M.J. Alleman (1881-1889). He was followed by Rev. R. Peter Livingston (1890-1929), Rev. Dr. Austin
A. Kelly (1929-1937), Rev. Charles A. Chamberlin (1938-1945), Rev. Herbert G. Kline (1946-1967), Rev.
George R. Knarr (1968-1977), Rev. Glenn A. Pearson (1978-1986), Rev. Carl E. Bentz (1985-1998), Rev.
James Emerick (1988-1998), Rev. John Joseph Zoppi (2000-2003).

The congregation has been served by interim and supply pastors since Pastor Zoppi’s death in 2003. The
congregation council is presently making deliberations as to the best leadership option for St. Mark’s in
its future mission.

Since 2002, St. Mark’s has been the East York City location for Head Start, a preschool child
development program, as well as an LIU location for preschool children with speech and hearing
disabilities.

In the recent past, the St. Mark’s building has been utilized by blossoming congregations, such as
Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene, while they transitioned into a building of their own.

In the past, we have also opened our building to a scout troop, and a cooperative mother’s group
that provided its members with free daycare. Although in recent years our numbers cannot support
a Vacation Bible School, in past decades St. Mark’s served up to 60 neighborhood children in this
endeavor. For a number of years, St. Mark’s also held a carnival for the neighborhood.

Our congregation maintains a food pantry that provides groceries to as many as 18 recipients on a
monthly basis.

We have committed to contribute $90,000, the entire cost of a home, to Habitat for Humanity for a
home on North Albemarle St. We have also pledged matching funds of up to $25,000 towards the
adjoining duplex unit. The project is slated to begin in June, 2013 and is expected to be completed by
November, 2013.

St. Mark’s launched its church website in March, 2009, and maintains a Facebook page since January,
2011.