Grace and peace to you!
When we think of July, many of us will think of July 4th — the day America remembers and celebrates its independence from Great Britain in 1776. But for the St. Mark community, July 27 also is a special day.
On that day in 1884, a new church building was dedicated. This year, the church that is at 850 Snydertown Road, the one where we come together many times during the year, celebrates 140 years!
It is often stressed that the church — the body of Christ, of which we are a part of — isn’t a building. Or, it isn’t just a building where people worship. We are the church, the body of Christ, wherever we are and wherever we go. That could be the grocery store, your neighborhood, the ballgame, the concert, etc. I believe in that thinking 100 percent, and pray that God leads each of us that way to where we are being the church beyond 850 Snydertown Road.
Still, it is good to celebrate and recognize St. Mark’s home for the past 140 years. Thanks to a history of St. Mark that member Bill Beck wrote to celebrate the church’s 100th anniversary, it is interesting to read about our past. When the church was built between 1883 and 1884, it cost $4,500 and the congregation had 37 members. Building costs and membership have grown fairly significantly since then! According to the newspaper, the Democratic Watchman, “The ladies of Snydertown Lutheran” held a fair with an oyster, turkey, chicken, waffle, etc. supper in December 1882 to help raise money for the new church.
It’s hard to imagine, but when the church was built, it had been less than 20 years since the end of the Civil War. It would be another 20 years before an automobile would travel through Snydertown, which had a population of about 40 at the time.
I think it’s safe to say that the church building has served the people of St. Mark well all these years later. For the past few months, council members and I have been walking around the church and thinking about where improvements, if needed, can be made, or where there may be new possibilities for certain spaces. I invite you to do the same, and you are welcome to share your ideas with me. I would love to hear them.
Whether we celebrate the past, live into the present, or dream about the future, there is one constant — that the building that is at 850 Snydertown Road is one where when people come, whether they are a longtime member or a new visitor, they experience hospitality and what it means to be the body of Christ. St. Mark Lutheran Church is a place where we come to worship God — God that has saved us and promised us life eternal through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — and where we are invited to participate in a life where we live by that faith in Jesus. Happy 248 years to this country, and happy 140 years to St. Mark!
Go in peace. Jesus loves you!
Pastor David