St. Mark's Episcopal Church Berkeley Springs WV

St. Mark’s is an active and vibrant community that shares Christ’s love in many ways. We welcome you and hope you will join us as we journey together.

Our service time has changed from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The sign outside the church still says 9:00 a.m. and we will fix that, but it’s more difficult than expected. The best way to learn about this Christian community is to join us for Worship. Fellowship that includes tasty treats is enthusiastically shared immediately after each Sunday worship service and everyone is invited.

 

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Download Pastor Rev. Brian Shoda vCard

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https://stmarksberkeley.com/  

 

 

You will find us at the intersection of US-522 (S. Washington Street) and WV-9E (Martinsburg Road).

From the South:
After entering Berkeley Springs from the South, the church will be on the left immediately after the Coldwell Banker Premier Properties office. Parking is allowed in the Coldwell Banker parking lot on Sunday mornings. We also have a parking lot on the left about a block North of the church.

From the North:
After entering Berkeley Springs from the North, the church will be on the right after Warren Street. Market Street is immediately before Warren Street. After passing Market Street there is a small sign on the right for the St Mark’s parking lot. Parking is also available in the Coldwell Banker Premier Properties parking lot immediately past the church on the right.  

Please share parking information and/or parking experience!  

 

St. Mark’s Ministries

Backpack Program

Every Thursday during the school year volunteers pack donated food and drinks into ordinary looking backpacks at the Board of Education building. Additionally, a Mountaineer food truck comes to the Moose Lodge every 3rd Thursday at 11:30 a.m. and help is always needed to unload and put food away at either the board of education office or community kitchen. St. Mark’s volunteers are especially needed every third Thursday of the month to pack backpacks. Set-up begins at 9:30 a.m. and bagging begins at 10:00. Backpacks are distributed to children who are at risk of being without food when school is not in session on weekends and holidays. The program is designed to help students without being obvious about it. Contact Susan Caperton for more information at (304) 258-1888.

Bible Study

Please join us for our Lenten Bible Study in the undercroft (basement) of the church. We meet on Wednesday mornings at 11:00 a.m. throughout Lent. There is very limited parking at the church. The St. Mark’s parking lot is between Warren and Market Streets, just North of the church office.

Community Meal

Volunteers from St. Mark’s prepare and serve a hot meal on the 3rd Friday of each month at Starting Points Resource Center’s community kitchen in Berkeley Springs. Volunteers are welcome and needed between 1:00 and 5:30 p.m. Contact Laura Smith to volunteer or for more information at lrsmith8507.gmail.com.

MCIEC (Morgan County Interfaith Emergency Care)

Donations of food and money from the St. Mark’s congregation are used to support families in need by providing food and assistance with utility bills. Current needs include bath soap, canned vegetables, canned soup, cereal, flour (2# bag), jelly, canned kidney beans, macaroni & cheese, beef stew (large can), peanut butter, pork & beans, rice (1# bag), saltine crackers, tuna, spaghetti and sauce, toilet paper, and toothpaste. Bring items to church on Sunday and leave them in the front pew. This is an important and greatly valued year-round ministry. Contact the church at (304) 258-2440 for more information.

Sunday morning fellowship

Everyone is invited to enjoy a light and sometimes full breakfast on Sunday immediately after we worship together at our 10:00 a.m. service.

Twelve Step Programs meet in the undercroft (church basement)

Alcoholics Anonymous: 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
Narcotics Anonymous: 6:00 p.m. on Sundays  

 

The first recorded church service in the Berkeley Springs area was noted in George Washington’s diary on August 20, 1769. He was visiting the springs with his wife, Martha and step-daughter, Patsy Custis at the time. The springs were in the original Norborn Parish and since Washington was an Anglican Churchman, it is thought that the service was Anglican.

His diary entry is brief, but interesting. It reads “Went to Church in the fore and afternoon. Mr. Jno Lewis dined here. Lord Fairfax, ye two Colo. Fairfax’s and other drank Tea here.” This is one of many times we wish that Mr. Washington had been more expansive in his diary entries!

The Rt. Rev. George Peterkin, the first bishop of West Virginia, established an Episcopal mission at Berkeley Springs in 1878. The first service was held in the ballroom of the local hotel. The Rev. W. T. Leavell, of Charles Town, consented to take charge of the mission and services continued in the ballroom, on alternate Sundays with the old established Hedgesville congregation, until a building could be purchased.

He was a diligent man and soon won many friends outside the small Episcopal flock. He drove to town in a conveyance commonly called a “stick-wagon” and remained to help raise money and work towards a new church building. He declined expense money, placing it in the building fund which grew to $900 by 1881. His generosity and zeal inspired local worshippers and attracted the attention of summer visitors at the hotel who admired the work of this saintly man.

The design for St. Mark’s Church was presented by Jay Cooke, who is remembered currently by the cross on the altar.

At the close of the season in September 1881, Bishop Peterkin laid the cornerstone of “St. Marks Protestant Episcopal Church.” A hotel guest, the Rev. Cannon Dixon of Guelph, Canada delivered the sermon. During the next five years, the church was hand built by Henry H. Hunter.

Bishop Peterkin consecrated the building on August 26, 1886 to the service of Almighty God. The sermon on this occasion was delivered by the Rev. Beverly Dandridge Tucker, a Confederate veteran and later Bishop of Virginia, whose family had helped make up the prewar society and one of only a very few southern families who came to post-war Bath.

The well-located lot on which the church building stands, was sold to Moro Phillips of Philadelphia by Elmira Buzzerd for $900. The lot wasn’t deeded to the trustees and Bishop Peterkin until 1890. There seems to be no explanation as to why the property was not deeded to St. Mark’s until after the building had been built.

Only four of the six original members can be determined and these are from the recall of Miss Katherine M. Hunter, a historian whose mother, Mrs. Henry Harrison Hunter was one of the original number and a leader in the church. The others were Miss Mary and Miss Virginia Campbell and a Mrs. Guest. Other charter members were said to also be women.

The dependence of St. Mark’s upon the summer patronage for financial support tied it to the rise and fall of the resort business. Contributions received in the 1888 season supplemented by a mortgage made it possible for the St. Mark’s Rectory to be built. Again, the summer guests helped greatly in this endeavor. Mrs. E. M. Breeze gave $500 and a collection among the people raised enough to retire the last $900 of the mortgage in 1894.

The Rev. Leavell continued to serve the congregation in the summer season until he was succeeded by the Rev. C. C. Pearson on April 1, 1896. Rev. Pearson became St. Mark’s first resident minister.

The reason for the existence of St. Mark’s is to serve the community for the betterment of all God’s people; to respond to the unconditional Love of God.

St. Mark has retained its charm and is a landmark in the Berkeley Springs community.