About St. Mark’s E.L.C.

St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church is a church with a great heritage. It all began in 1813 as six German Lutheran families arrived in the Borough of Butler with their Bibles, some apple seeds, and a strong faith that God would guide and bless them.

In the years since those first Lutheran families arrived and years since the governor signed the charter recognizing "The German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of St. Marcus Church in Butler", the faithfulness of God has remained constant and unchanging. With the dynamic and steady witness of our members through the years, funds were somehow raised, and three churches built as membership grew. Our Sunday school building, built in 1927 with a $100,000 bank loan, was repaid within a few years by members still recovering from the Depression.

Some highlights of the church history are:

• In 1843, the loss of 45 members wanting English sermons resulted in formation of the First English Lutheran Church.
  
  
• 1848 - Sunday School classes begin.
  
  
• 1877 - the first choir was organized.
  
  
• 1888 - First women's Bible study and sewing meeting.

St. Mark's has been blessed with the unique talents and visions of our pastors, as they guided congregations through many challenges through the decades.

Also, the unchangeable blessings of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion remain as steadfast now as they were in 1813 for six German families worshipping in a cold carpenter shop on muddy Main Street in the Borough of Butler.