St. Mark's Episcopal Church sits on a rise along Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road in Huntersville, North Carolina, a historic stone-and-frame sanctuary that has watched over the community since the late nineteenth century. Passersby have long wondered about the beautiful old church up on the hill. St. Mark's has been gathering there since the 1880s, first as a mission out of Long Creek and now as a parish rooted in the Book of Common Prayer, with two Sunday services, a bilingual preschool, a new event venue, and a growing portfolio of outreach ministries serving neighbors across Huntersville and Charlotte.
Sunday Worship on the Hill
Sunday services are held at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m., with a combined service at 9:30 during the summer break and on fifth Sundays. The 8:30 service is a said Eucharist, and the later service includes hymns led by organ and choir. The congregation worships with the Book of Common Prayer, following the Episcopal service forms that have shaped Anglican liturgy for centuries, and the printed bulletin guides visitors through the readings, prayers, and congregational responses of the day.
All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Holy Communion at St. Mark's, and visitors who are not baptized are invited to come forward for a blessing. Clergy and acolytes wear traditional vestments, and longtime members find the weekly rhythm comforting, even if newcomers may need a few Sundays to learn when to stand, sit, or kneel. The 10:30 service, and the 9:30 combined service when it replaces the two morning services, is livestreamed on YouTube so members who are traveling, homebound, or simply unable to attend in person can still worship with the parish.
From Long Creek to Today
St. Mark's story begins in November 1883, when Columbus W. McCoy of Long Creek Township invited the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire of St. Peter's Church in Charlotte to hold a service in the local schoolhouse. McCoy, a former Presbyterian who had grown to love the Book of Common Prayer, asked for help establishing an Episcopal presence in his community. Cheshire accepted, preached twice that first visit, and walked the neighborhood calling on families from house to house. He believed that very little could be accomplished in a new field by merely having a service, even a Sunday service, unless time were given to personal visiting from house to house.
By the summer of 1884 the mission was taking shape. Cheshire and his assistants, the Reverend Dr. George B. Wetmore and the Reverend Mr. Osborne, held a week of services in the Beach Cliff Schoolhouse that drew crowds so large that part of the congregation had to sit outdoors. Sixteen persons were baptized, fourteen adults asked to be confirmed, and at the close of the week eleven residents signed a petition asking to be organized as a mission under the name St. Mark's Chapel.
The cornerstone of the present church was laid in 1886, and the first service in the new worship space was held in 1887. The Parish House, built in 1897, served as the rectory for generations of priests and their families and now houses the Sunday school classrooms, the nursery, and the Rafters bridal suite. In the 1940s, Thomas McCoy established a perpetual trust that placed the McCoy Cemetery and the adjoining slave cemetery in the parish's ongoing care.
La Escuelita San Marcos
One of the most distinctive ministries of the parish is La Escuelita San Marcos, a bilingual preschool serving Spanish-speaking children from low-income families. The school is a collaborative effort between St. Mark's and Hopewell Presbyterian Church and is located in Hopewell's Education Building at 10500 Beatties Ford Road in Huntersville. Its mission is to prepare young learners to thrive in the education system, develop social skills, and nurture life skills so they can succeed in school and beyond.
La Escuelita also walks alongside families, offering parenting and life-skills workshops, encouraging parents to take leadership roles in the school community, and helping sustain the educational and social development of their children. Director Saray Gamez oversees the program, and the school welcomes volunteer and internship help as well as financial donations.
Standing with Ranson Middle School
For more than fifteen years, St. Mark's has stood alongside Ranson IB Middle School, a Title One school in Charlotte. The parish supports students, teachers, and staff with volunteer hours, school supplies, weekend food backpacks, summer camps, and other practical help. News of current needs and ways to give circulate through the weekly e-blast, and the parish encourages volunteers to connect with the school directly through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools volunteer portal.
Flyin' Lion Transition to Employment
The newest ministry of the parish is Flyin' Lion Transition to Employment, a program that works with differently abled adults to train them for careers in the service industry. Through an industrial-grade kitchen on the St. Mark's campus, certified food-safety classes, and interview-preparation courses, the program helps participants move toward self-support. The mission statement says it plainly: to create a community that embraces acceptance, encourages the talents, and enhances the skills of economically challenged and differently abled adults seeking to become self-supporting.
The Rafters
The Rafters is the parish's new reception and event venue, opened in March 2021. The building grew out of a vision for additional space to host parish gatherings, run the Flyin' Lion program, and raise funds for outreach. The first wedding was held in June 2021, and The Rafters is now available for weddings, parties, and corporate events, with the bridal suite housed in the old Parish House. The venue is coordinated by Allison Rhinehardt, and reservations are made through the Rafters event space.
The Worship Team
Behind every Sunday service is a wide circle of volunteers. Acolytes, typically youth of the parish, assist at the altar. The Altar Guild prepares the altar and sacraments. Chalists and Lay Eucharistic Ministers help the priest distribute communion, while Lay Eucharistic Visitors carry already-blessed communion to those who cannot attend. Greeters offer the first smile at the door and the last wave at the end of the service, and the Welcome Team makes sure newcomers especially feel at home. Ushers hand out bulletins, help everyone get seated, and assist with the collection. Lectors read two selections from the Bible and lead the congregation in the appointed Psalm. The Music Team, led by Organist and Choir Master Alex Ancona, fills the second service with instrumental and vocal music. The Technology Team makes sure the spoken word carries clearly from the back pew and that services reach viewers at home.
Pastoral Care and Prayer
St. Mark's pastoral-care network quietly surrounds the congregation with practical and spiritual support. A hospitality team coordinates light refreshments after funerals and meals for parishioners in need. A new-baby ministry delivers cradle crosses and hand-knit blankets to growing families, and a prayer-shawl ministry tenderly knits and delivers shawls to members and non-members alike, with special requests for colors and patterns welcomed. A prayer chain lifts up private requests that are not published in the bulletin, asking for supernatural uplifting and praise for those in need. The parish also offers respite and sitter care for caregivers, transportation to appointments and services for those who cannot drive, and a steady stream of cards and notes for congratulations, encouragement, and sympathy.
Children, Youth, and Adults
Children are welcome in worship at St. Mark's. A staffed nursery on the first floor of the old rectory is available for babies and toddlers, and Christian Education for ages four through teens takes place between services at 9:30 a.m., with classes held in the Parish Hall and the old rectory.
Adults gather for Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. in The Rafters, where classes use study programs, books, or series to encourage open discussion. A women's group called WINE, Women In Need of Entertainment, meets one Monday a month for a covered-dish supper, rotating between members' homes and The Rafters building. The parish also encourages members to discern and use their spiritual gifts, with a free Spiritual Gifts Test linked from the church's Get Involved section.
An Episcopal Parish
As Episcopalians, the congregation of St. Mark's affirms its place in the worldwide Anglican Communion, tracing its heritage to the beginnings of Christianity. Members believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in amendment of life, the forgiveness of sin, and life everlasting. The Bible is upheld as scripture, while the Book of Common Prayer shapes Sunday worship. Both men and women are eligible for ordination as deacons, priests, and bishops, and lay people play a vital role in the governance and ministry of the parish. The parish is part of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, currently led by the twelfth Bishop Diocesan, the Right Reverend Samuel Rodman, with the Right Reverend Jennifer Brooke-Davidson serving as Assistant Bishop. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is the twenty-eighth in that office, Sean Rowe.
The parish gathers each Sunday on the hill at 8600 Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road in Huntersville.