The history of St. Mark Lutheran Church
St. Mark Lutheran Church began as the Mount Prospect Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1945 when five families were approached by Chicago pastors and asked to begin a mission church in Mount Prospect.
Two Lutheran churches already existed in Mount Prospect at the time, but they were German Lutheran churches, which were part of the Missouri Synod. Lutheran churches years ago were organized along ethnic lines, so St. Mark was organized in more of a Scandinavian tradition.
"Today, those ethnic considerations no longer matter," former Pastor Lloyd Heroff told the Daily Herald in 2006, at the time of the church's 60th anniversary.
"St. Mark is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which simply interprets Scripture and Lutheran doctrines differently than Missouri Synod churches."
The first church services and Sunday school were held in church members' homes. The congregation was formally organized with a charter signing by 37 members on June 21, 1946, at the home of Daniel and Thoresse Borgen.
A short time later, the basement of the large brick Central Standard School (at the site of today's Mount Prospect Public Library) became the meeting place for the congregation.
Before long, plans were begun for securing land for a church building and parsonage. The wide-open spaces of prairie at Pine and Evergreen streets, south of the tracks, was chosen as the place to build the square white cement block building that was the first home of St. Mark.
Shortly after the completion of the original church in 1948, plans were made for enlarging the building at 200 S. Wille St. A new sanctuary was added to the east side and dedicated in 1954. This is also when the congregation changed its name to St. Mark Lutheran Church.
As the congregation grew, there developed a need for additional space, of course, so an education building was dedicated in 1957, a transept (a worship space which crosses the sanctuary horizontally) in 1963, and the St. Mark Center, with its gymnasium and activity space, was opened across the street in 1970.
An ADA-accessible great room for fellowship and meeting space was added to the south of the sanctuary in 1998.
Ministries abound today at St. Mark. The church campus has been a Monday night location for the regional Public Action to Deliver Shelter for the homeless since the 1980s. It provides dinner, shower facilities and a place to sleep for between 60 and 70 people one night per week from October through April, and is assisted in the necessary funding and staffing by neighboring St. Raymond Catholic Church.
The congregation also partners with its Catholic neighbors through occasional joint services, a Stations of the Cross ceremony, and a food cart contingent in Mount Prospect's annual Fourth of July parade. At one time they also held a joint vacation Bible school each summer.
It also partners with Holy Family School, a Lutheran-Episcopal ministry, in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. St. Mark sends Holy Family donations from its benevolence fund and church members periodically visit the inner-city ministry to assist with programming.
In addition, children from Holy Family visit St. Mark once a year and the Holy Family chaplain preaches at St. Mark annually.
Most recently, the St. Mark congregation worked with the congregations of Grace Lutheran Church, Mary and Martha Lutheran Church and the Turkish-American Society of Chicago, located in Mount Prospect, during 2015 to help settle a Syrian refugee family in the village. They are now preparing to welcome another.
St. Mark is also well-known for its King's Players summer youth theater group, which allows aspiring high school and junior high school actors the opportunity to participate in a summer theater program directed by experienced staff.
The group practices and builds its sets at St. Mark, but has grown so much that it now performs at High School District 214's Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights.
Today, St. Mark hosts approximately 175 worshippers each Sunday during two services and it offers an after-school religious education program each Wednesday.
St. Mark also has a group of about a dozen high school students who enjoy learning leadership skills through cooking for the monthly church dinner, helping the church's refugee family, documenting activities with photos and so forth.
"We have a great group of young families at St. Mark, and we are looking to serve and connect with even more. In fact, we offer a Community Meal one Wednesday evening each month which is open to all," said the Rev. Christie Webb, the congregation's current and 20th pastor.
"St. Mark is a place for inspiring worship, meaningful ministry, deepening faith and caring community," Webb said.
"The Activity Center is host to many community activities, a basketball program and a PADS site, and the St. Mark Preschool and Enrichment Center provides excellent education for 3-year-olds through kindergartners. The St. Mark tagline summarizes it as 'Nourishing God's People: Body, Mind and Spirit.'"