St. Mark's Church, Frankford

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right|thumb|300px|St. Mark's Church, Frankford in about 1920St. Mark’s Church, Frankford

St. Mark's Church, Frankford in Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is celebrating its 175th Anniversary this year. Throughout its storied history this Episcopal Church has had a significant impact in Frankford, Philadelphia, and the greater Christian Church. Over the past 175 years St. Mark’s has metamorphosed through three distinct eras of churchmanship: birth and radical growth through conversion; ministry beyond the parish; and the current era when we serve as Frankford’s Neighborhood Church.

Birth and Radical Growth

There are specific records of Episcopal missions in Frankford that go back as far as 1709. In each case schools were reported, but it wasn’t until 1816 that the Reverend George Sheets, Rector of Trinity Church, Oxford in Oxford Township was given authority in Frankford and Holmesburg and the a church was birthed among the people of these growing though still largely rural communities. The purpose of the missions were to plant new churches where population was increasing and in between the existing congregations of All Saint’s Church, Torresdale and Trinity Church, Oxford so that people did not have to travel for church.

In 1820, Rev. Sheets and Mary Glenn, a regular communicant of St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia, started a Sunday School in Frankford in the Morrow Schoolhouse at Paul and Ruan Streets.

In 1832, the cholera epidemic struck the city of Philadelphia and many people left the compact cityscape to flee to the wide open suburbs such as Frankford. As the population of Frankford grew, church services were held in the Morrow School House under the leadership of the Rev. Sheets, the Rev. Dr. Spackman, and Mrs. Mary Glenn. This was the foundation of St. Mark’s Church as a Church of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Within a short time, the congregation outgrew the Morrow Schoolhouse and rented a room at the Frankford Academy on Paul Street.

In 1835, the congregation outgrew their space at the Frankford Academy and a lot was purchased on 4444 and 4446 Franklin (now Griscom) Street, where a frame building was erected. The church was named The Tabernacle Church.

In 1837, The Tabernacle Church membership continued to grow, so the congregation purchased yet another lot, which was to become the site of the current church on Main Street, which is now the current address of the Church, 4442 Frankford Avenue.

In 1845, some members of the congregation met at the home of a fellow parishioner, William Overington, to plan the building of a larger church and the cornerstone was laid that year. The church was ready for worship services in 1846, and the name was changed from the Tabernacle to St. Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Church.

The church flourished under the clerical leadership of the Rev. Dr. Daniel Sutter Miller (served from 1854-1881), as well as the lay leadership of the Welsh Family (William Welsh served from 1858-1878). The first Lay Co-operation in the Episcopal Church in this country was started here under the leadership of the Welsh Family. Parish records from the era indicate that there were Bible study classes, college lectures, a parish library, a savings and loan, mother’s meetings, a sewing school, a burial association, the sick people’s club, Mother’s Aid Society, diet kitchen for the sick, Alms House Mission, St. Mark’s Guild, Temperance Society, reading room and a day nursery.

Ministry beyond the Parish

During the Civil War, a St. Mark’s parishioner named James Ashworth, set up a recruiting station on Frankford Avenue near the church and due largely to his efforts Frankford had the most recruits of any town its size in the nation. First Captain then Colonel Ashworth was to command the storied 121st Pennsylvania Volunteers who fought heroically and with many losses during the Battle of Gettysburg. On the south wall of the main church building is a plaque commemorating the 192 men from St. Mark’s Church, Frankford who fought in the War to Preserve the Union. Over the years, 39 St. Mark’s men have laid down their lives on battlefields, foreign and domestic, for our freedom.

The 1800’s were years of growth for Philadelphia itself as well as the businesses and churches of the City of Brotherly Love. During this period the members of St. Mark’s Church, Frankford were responsible for starting seven new worshipping communities: St. Stephen’s Church, Bridesburg; St. Bartholomew’s Church, at Comely and Ditman Streets; St. Luke’s Church, Kensington; St. Paul’s Church, Aramingo; a rail depot mission east of the church; the Chapel at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; and St. Mark’s Church, Cheyenne, Wyoming as well as other projects of religious merit in the Episcopal Church.

Probably St. Mark's Church, Frankford most important influence to the wider Christian Church was publishing a document explaining what was then a relatively new concept in ministry: lay people and ordained people working together as a team, known as the Lay Cooperation in Ministry. Prior to the St. Mark’s report, the work of the Church was generally considered the responsibility of the clergy. After the report and still true today that the work or ministry of the laity and the clergy compliment each other to the glory of God and the expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven. This report, first given at the Diocesan Convention in 1861 spread well beyond the Episcopal denomination and was published in the Godey’s Lady’s Book. One can only imagine the influence an article in the Lady’s Book must have had; the periodical had a readership stretching across the continent.

Frankford’s Neighborhood Church Some will look at the church more as a building than the collection of people who form a community of faith; for them we offer that the present church building is truly a work of art. In about 1895, then Rector the Rev. John Harding and vestryman, parish musician, and church architect Frank Rushmore Watson devised a plan. They were to build a church to the glory of God that to them surpassed anything imaginable in any denomination in the area. One can only guess at what they were thinking as there are no records of their conversations; on the other hand there is abundant evidence is in the work itself. They teamed together Nicola D’Ascenzo and the D’Ascenzo Studios for his school of stained glass artists, Whitman Studios for specialized stone work, and using the best ingredients, Red Oak, Indiana Limestone, and Port Deposit Granite from the banks of the Susquehanna, they set to the task of building a truly magnificent building in the perpendicular gothic style.

The cornerstone for the church was laid on September 29, 1907 before hundreds of onlookers. The architect for the project was Frank Rushmore Watson, who designed churches up and down the eastern seaboard. The church was built to accommodate 800 worshippers under a red oak ceiling designed to replicate the hull of Noah’s ark and surrounded by layered walls consisting of Indiana Limestone and Port Deposit Granite. The magnificent stained glass was done by local artist Nicola D’Ascenzo, who was a versatile artist and former president of the Philadelphia Sketch Club. The stained glass adorns two levels of this vertical gothic church. In the lower (eye) level one can trace the work of Christ as developed from the synoptic Gospels; in the clerestory a characteristic of perpendicular gothic design, towering above the church there is a procession of saints, which through the vivid colors that D’Ascenzo is noted for, 70 ten feet tall Biblical characters march toward the East. D’Ascenzo has work on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but the pinnacle of his work is clearly the stained glass at St. Mark’s Church, Frankford.

Throughout our history members have sought to serve the wider community through our varied ministries, and at times simply offering space to the wider community. During the world wars and today we offer St. Mark’s as a House of Prayer for all God’s people. We never forget that there are very few congregations that can claim 39 of their boys died for their country. Over the years, annual gatherings brought scores to St. Mark’s Church. Some of these events included our annual bazaars, parish dinners, and regular worship services; others included civic events such as special worship celebrating victory during the War, periods of National Mourning such as in response to September 11th attacks on our country, as well as long put away days of patriotic celebration such as the what was once the annual Churching of the Colors. As a part of our 175th Celebration we will renew the Churching of the Colors on October 19th 2008, when groups from many military and civic organizations will gather for worship and prayer. Today, St. Mark’s is the home of numerous community events which include the annual Thanksgiving Eve Service when the doors of the magnificent church are open to the wider Frankford Community to pray and offer thanks to our God for the many blessing he has bestowed upon us.

As with most all organizations that live over a 175 years there are periods of growth and prosperity as well as periods of decline. St. Mark's Church, Frankford has clearly had its share of ebbs and flows. During the early 1700s we simply could not get a lasting worshiping congregation started. During the crash of 1857 when virtually every business in Frankford went under, there was serious doubt as to whether or not we would be able to continue, but according to Parish records the people pooled their resources together and we kept not only afloat, but began once again to flourish. Today the church feels active and healthy, as membership continues to climb each Sunday. There is a sense in the congregation that God has called us to the high calling of sharing God’s love in this broken world, by focusing on local ministry in the Lower Northeast and especially Frankford. Today and especially each Sunday the church is called home by people all over our community as well as across the globe and bustles with activity. The congregation has members from Europe, Puerto Rico, Africa, and Asia, all of whom come together to worship God under the priestly leadership of the Rev. Jonathan N. Clodfelter. Every Sunday our worship services are festive as well as fun: we are united in one voice.