A Lutheran Anchor on West Jefferson Street
On a quiet block in the Borough of Butler, Pennsylvania, the gray stone walls of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church look out across West Jefferson Street, the same corner where German Lutheran families first began gathering two centuries ago. The congregation that traces its roots to 1813 still meets in the heart of town, just a short walk from the county courthouse, and it carries the name it took on early in its life: The German Evangelical Congregation of St. Marcus Church in Butler. In the more than two hundred years since, the parish has built three successive church buildings, raised a Sunday school wing, replaced its pipe organ, and kept a small preschool running every Wednesday morning for more than half a century.
Today St. Mark's belongs to the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), a relatively young Lutheran body that emphasizes the authority of Scripture and the historic Lutheran Confessions. The congregation's two weekly worship services - Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m. - are both communion services, a detail that signals the parish's sacramental and liturgical center of gravity. Holy Communion is served at every service, a rhythm that members describe as one of the most constant things about the church.
How the Congregation Came to Butler
The story begins in 1813, when six German Lutheran families arrived in the Borough of Butler carrying their Bibles, some apple seeds, and a strong faith. The first worship services were held in a cold carpenter's shop on muddy Main Street. Even then, the two sacraments that would define the parish's life - Holy Baptism and Holy Communion - were central.
Within thirty years, the parish faced a turning point. In 1843, the loss of forty-five members who wanted English-language preaching led to the formation of a separate English Lutheran congregation. St. Mark's, the German-speaking mother church, continued its work and soon began building the institutions that would shape it for generations:
- 1848: Sunday school classes began.
- 1877: the first choir was organized.
- 1888: the first women's Bible study and sewing meeting was formed.
- 1927: members still recovering from the Great Depression helped the congregation build a Sunday school wing, financed with a $100,000 bank loan.
- 2013: St. Mark's marked its 200th anniversary with a year of monthly community events, with proceeds given to local nonprofits, and a Window Walk that reminded members how striking the building is.
- 2015: the congregation rebuilt its Moller pipe organ, a project that brought the instrument back to full voice for another generation of worship.
Worship and the Historic Lutheran Liturgy
Worship at St. Mark's follows a traditional Lutheran pattern. The two weekend services are intentionally identical in form, with both including the Lord's Supper. Music is supported by the long-running choir tradition that began in 1877, and the rebuilt Moller pipe organ anchors the sanctuary's musical life.
The parish gathers for the full round of the Christian year, including the great feasts of the liturgical calendar. The annual rhythm includes a midweek Advent series, Christmas Eve services, Ash Wednesday and the Lenten journey through Holy Week, with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Day observed in their historic sequence. Through the year, the community also marks Reformation Sunday, All Saints' Day, and a Thanksgiving Eve service, gathering on Wednesday evenings for worship in addition to the weekend schedule.
Office hours run Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and visitors are warmly welcomed to call, email, or simply stop in. The pastor and staff include Reverend David M. Phillips serving as Senior Pastor, Wendy Holt as Parish Administrator, and Shelley O'Donnell as Youth Director.
What the Parish Believes
St. Mark's is committed to the authority of the Bible as the inspired Word of God and judges all doctrine by the teaching of Scripture. The congregation embraces the four core values of the NALC:
- Christ-Centered - confessing the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ according to the Holy Scriptures, and accepting the ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran Confessions as faithful witnesses to the Word of God.
- Mission-Driven - believing the Church's mission is to preach the Gospel and to make disciples for Christ, locally and around the world.
- Traditionally-Grounded - affirming the ecumenical creeds, the Lutheran Confessions, and the universal Church's form and practices, especially the office of the ministry and the tradition of worship under Word and Sacrament.
- Congregationally-Focused - organizing resources, connections, and information to serve local congregations in a spirit of partnership.
The congregation confesses the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and accepts the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. It also receives the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel, along with the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord: the Apology, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise, the Small and Large Catechisms, and the Formula of Concord. St. Mark's explicitly honors and accepts The Common Confession (2005) as a summary of teachings otherwise affirmed in the Lutheran Confessions.
Children's Hour: A Wednesday-Morning Ministry for Half a Century
For more than fifty-one years, St. Mark's has run a Wednesday-morning children's program now called Children's Hour. It meets from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, September through May, in the church building at 201 West Jefferson Street. The program is open to children ages two through Kindergarten, with a flat fee of $35 per child for the school year, and is described by the church as a low-cost, volunteer-led, non-denominational preschool experience with roots in Christianity.
Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers serve as classroom helpers, storytellers, and snack-givers, rotating through so that every child has a family member who helps at least once a month. A typical morning includes a Bible story, a short lesson that ties the story to everyday life, crafts, games, a snack, songs, and time to play and make friends. A parent orientation meeting is held before the first day of classes each fall. Registration forms are available from the church office, and volunteer clearance forms are required for everyone who helps in the classroom.
Katie's Kitchen and the Senior Luncheon
St. Mark's is also well known in Butler for two long-running community ministries. Katie's Kitchen has served the Butler community for more than thirty years, and a Senior Luncheon fellowship brings older members and friends of the church together for food and conversation. Both are part of the parish's commitment to being a neighbor, not only on Sunday morning but through the week.
South Cemetery: A Shared Resting Place on South Main Street
St. Mark's shares custody of the historic South Cemetery on South Main Street, a tract of nearly seven acres that occupies a commanding position overlooking the borough. The cemetery is held in common by the German and English Lutheran congregations and the United Presbyterian Church. Land was first deeded to the German Lutherans in 1850 by John Negley, with later additions made by the McQuistion heirs and a further parcel going to the United Presbyterian congregation.
The grounds combine the original St. Mark's cemetery with the older St. Andrew's United Presbyterian burial ground and the English Lutheran cemetery, and they hold the remains of many of Butler's pioneer settlers. The St. Mark's portion of the cemetery remains active, with information and current pricing available from the church office.
Music, the Moller Organ, and the Choir
Music has been part of St. Mark's identity since 1877, when the first choir was organized. After more than a century of service, the congregation's Moller pipe organ was rebuilt in 2015, an investment in the building's acoustic life that the parish celebrated as a way of honoring both the worship tradition and the craftspeople who keep such instruments alive. The choir continues to support the regular weekend services, and the organ leads the congregation in hymns from the historic Lutheran repertoire.
Staying Connected and Giving
The congregation publishes a monthly newsletter, The Parishioner, with a pastoral letter from Reverend Phillips and updates on the life of the parish. A printable PDF of the current month is available from the news page, and the church maintains an active Facebook presence (search for smelcbutler) and a YouTube channel (St. Mark's Butler PA).
Online giving is available through a secure portal on the giving page, and the generosity of members has enabled the church to be a community of believers where Jesus Christ changes lives.
A Long Welcome on West Jefferson Street
From the carpenter's shop on muddy Main Street in 1813 to the gray stone church on West Jefferson Street today, St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church has kept a steady presence in Butler for more than two hundred years. The congregation's identity is rooted in Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, expressed through two weekly communion services, and lived out in ministries that range from a Wednesday-morning preschool to a community kitchen and a shared historic cemetery. The same parish that planted apple seeds in 1813 still gathers today, in the same town, to preach the Gospel, to baptize, to break bread, and to serve its neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ.