106 Years Later

Photo by Rev. Lisa Schoonmaker

Today marks the 106^th anniversary of the consecration of St. Mark’s Church at 21 South Main Street, Lewistown.  The consecration of a church marks an important moment in the life of a faith community since, according to canonical tradition in the Episcopal Church, once a Church is “secured for ownership and use by a Parish,” the community acquires certain rights, privileges and protections.  In recent years, because of some of the divisions that have arisen, church property has become the vehicle by which individuals and institutions “stake their claim” since, in our common culture, property ownership was always seen as a symbol of power.  In America’s earliest history, only property owners were able to vote.  This was gradually extended but the concept of universal suffrage (where all people could exercise this important power of citizenship) came into existence years AFTER St. Mark’s was consecrated!  It is no wonder, then, just who owns and who controls church property has become such a huge issue.

Breaking Bread Together Dinner at St.Mark's Church

It is too easy, then, to forget that the Church proper is more than its holdings, its buildings, its accounts.  The Church is most fundamentally, the Body of Christ, the presence of God within our created world as expressed in the “more perfect union” we form not necessarily as a political nation but as a family in faith.  Secular politics focuses on power – who has it and who does not.  Sacred politics must help us to focus on love – who loves and who is loved.  That all begins with the fundamental principle that every human being is made in the divine image and therefore, deserves the love and respect that we “reserve” for God.

For Episcopalians, to be housed in a consecrated building is a reminder that we are the living stones of Christ’s Church, and that as the building provides us with warmth, shelter and security from the elements of a seemingly cold and heartless world, we must strive to provide that shelter for all would seek refuge. 

We are grateful for the love and support that our walls proclaim from the generations before us.  To meet their expectations, we must continue to make these walls bastions of hope and joy!

Happy day to all our parishioners and friends at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church!