St. Mark's Episcopal Church, St. Louis

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, dedicated in 1939, represented the first church in the St. Louis region designed in a modern style.  The story started in 1935 when Bishop William Scarlett requested Charles Wilson to come to St. Louis to be Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese in South St. Louis.  Wilson’s commitment to social justice issues appealed to Scarlett.  Wilson brought together two aging churches, Holy Innocents in Oak Hill and Mt. Calvary at Grand and I-44 along with a new one he organized in the developing neighborhood of St. Louis Hills. The unique opportunities Bishop Scarlett and Charles Wilson enjoyed explain how the remarkable images of social justice are imbedded in the church windows which illuminate the challenges faced by the church in the 1930s when the country was left cynical after the Great War, reeling through a never-ending depression, and confused by disturbing totalitarian movements in Europe. The windows on the north side of the narthex tell of St. Mark’s growing relationship with Jesus while matching windows on the south side inspire viewers to consider contemporary responses to Christ. The windows on the South Side ask the question – “If you follow Jesus, so what?”   Nearly eighty years after St. Mark’s was dedicated, through worship, outreach, and a focus on compassion and justice,the challenges presented in the windows still resonate with parishioners today.Join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 8:00 (said service) and 10:00 (choir and hymns).