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                                             History of St. Mark!
 
 
Pre-1856 to 1900

 Like Israel, St. Mark's members have always been willing to fold their tents, pitched in familiar surroundings, and follow God's call to service in a new place. The result is a long tradition of congregational vitality. St. Mark has experienced steady growth in these moves and expanded over the years.

St. Mark was begun prior to 1856 as a "City-Factory Mission'' by St. Luke United Methodist Church on the banks of the Chattahoochee River on Lower Front Avenue. It was called Wesley Chapel.

In 1866 Wesley Chapel was attached to another mission church in Phenix City, and the two were known as the Girard-Wesley Chapel Charge until 1872 when they were divided. The Girard Church is now the Trinity United Methodist Church of Phenix City.

When the Eagle and Phenix Mills purchased the Wesley Chapel mission property, the mill provided a more valuable piece of property at 1323 Broad Street in exchange. The church changed its name to the Broad Street Church and moved in 1874. By 1876, the church had grown into a self-supporting church with a full-time pastor and dropped its mission status.

1900 to 1970
In 1912 the church needed to expand again, and a lot was purchased on the corner of Third Avenue and Sixteenth Street. This time, the church's name became Methodist Tabernacle; then, in 1916, the name St. Mark was chosen.

1970 to Present

By the 1970's, the decline of the downtown area and dwindling membership resulted in a decision to move to Whitesville Road. The church was housed in temporary buildings until 1978 when the building now housing the Children's Department was completed.

St. Mark experienced such rapid growth in membership, programs, and budget during the next five years that plans were begun in 1982 for a new facility to house a 625 seat sanctuary, library, chapel, and conference room. The new building was completed and consecrated in September 1985.

The 1989 purchase of an adjacent 2.7 acre parcel provided for future expansion and additional parking space. Much needed administrative offices were added in 1990. The addition of the Activities Center in 1995 provided an excellent facility for a multi-faceted community outreach. St. Mark's far-reaching vision includes future plans for the construction of a 2000 square foot Youth Building.

St. Mark has a long, interesting, and influential history. She has witness and influence around the world, not only through the missionaries she has supported, but also through her members and through many of her adults and youth that have gone into full-time Christian service.

We are filled with gratitude for our rich heritage at St. Mark! But we are a body of believers looking to the future with excitement and confidence! The best is yet to be! We believe God is forging a greater vision for His people in St. Mark. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Eccl. 3: 11)

AND THE STORM CAME...
by Ashley Randall
When they woke up on Friday, March 2,2007, most of the residents of Columbus, Georgia heard the news reports of the path of destruction left behind the storms from the night before. Most of the stories were from Americus where the regional hospital had been evacuated and hundreds of homes where badly damaged.
When they went outside to pick up the few limbs that had fallen in their yards, more than few probably breathed a prayer of thanksgiving that the damage they had experienced had been so slight. Then they returned to all of the everyday concerns with which theft life was already full. The storm was over. It was time to get back to life as usual.
That was not the case for the body of believers who gather to worship at St. Mark. The morning revealed what others had discovered in the dark hours of the night before. The storm had wrought catastrophic damage to several of the church’s buildings. Steeples were missing. Roofs were leaking. Water was everywhere. Now it was time to get to work. As the calls went out, scores of members and friends poured in to lend a hand to make sure that the mission and ministry of the congregation continued uninterrupted.
The work has continued since that night and it has revealed a remarkable depth of commitment, dedication and resolve. The congregation has continued to worship, even though its beautiful sanctuary has been gutted in preparation for its repair. The congregation has continued to reach out to the community, even though its own needs have been massive. The congregation has continued to gather to teach its children, youth, and adults the timeless truths of God’s goodness and grace, even though the circumstances mightlead to other assumptions about the nature of the world. The congregation has continued to serve, even though people have been. working overtime to restore what has been lost. The congregation has continued to demonstrate their love for God and for one another.
You will meet lots of people who will make excuses for themselves. Some make a pretty convincing case. From their perspective they are victims, and they hold little responsibility for the kind o.f people they have become. Nevertheless, a good friend taught me long ago that circumstances do not determine a person’s character; rather, circumstances reveal a person’s character.
When I entered the sanctuary on my first visit to St. Mark, a crew was pulling up the carpet. One person after another pointed out damage to the building; and then told me stories about the commitment and dedication that had been revealed in the hours, weeks and months since the storm. I have continued to hear those stories, but I have also been hearing something else that is even more encouraging: I have been hearing people give thanks to God for the blessings St. Mark has experienced through the storm.
As you read the account of the storm and its aftermath in this issue of The Evangel, I hope you will take time to pause and add your thanksgiving to God for all the ways God has worked through this catastrophe to bless our congregation. While many people will never know all that God has done in this place and in the lives of those who are committed to serving him, we will continue to sing with confidence that hymn we learned years ago:
When the storms of life are raging, stand by me;
When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.
When the world is tossing mc, like a ship upon the sea,
Thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me.
On Thursday, March Ft, 2007 at approximately 6:30 pm, the tornado sirens warned of an approaching storm. It struck several North Columbus neighborhoods with extensive damage. St. Mark United Methodist Church buildings also received massive destruction. Soon after, a weather warning reported a tornado had touched down on Double Churches Road and Veteran’s Parkway. Our pastor and his wife, Jimmy and Judy Duke, were contacted and reported that they had lost some roof shingles, a few trees, and that their back yard shed had blown away. Brother Jimmy had walked to the church, but because of the dark, he could not see the true extent of the damage. Shortly after, Glenn Myhand, chairman of the 1rustec Committee, received a call from Mike Terry telling him that a
friend living behind the church had called and said our steeple was gone and there was
much destruction. Hanna Webster also called Glenn and said that her husband, Clark, was at the church and there were major problems. Glenn soon arrived to find all in darkness with no electrical power and water everywhere in the sanctuary. Then several other members arrived (Ward Jordan and his son Jarrod, Daniel Rudder, Jimmy and Kitty McKinstry). Ken and Pam Bailey brought plastic to cover the musical instruments. Clark noticed large windows in the Activity Center were blown out, so he called Service Master to come and secure them. Everyone pitched-in and began to remove songbooks and pew Bibles from the sanctuary.  Wiley Gray, our Facilities Manager arrived and a survey of the buildings and grounds with flashlights began. Rev. Jimmy Duke was contacted and asked to begin making plans to hold Sunday worship services elsewhere for some time to come because of massive water damage in the sanctuary. By midnight, power had been restored and the extent of the destruction inside the facilities could be seen. After the Activity Center windows had been secured by Service Master, an agreement was made to meet them the next morning and start the process of drying the sanctuary and other areas. After
1:30am, Friday March 2, Wiley and Glenn secured all doors and went home.
The next morning,
Wiley called Renfroe Roofing to begin covering holes in the roof He also contacted Jimmy Strickland Tree Service to remove the fallen trees. Our Church Administrator, Bobby Lindsey, called our insurance cbmpany and reported the tornado damage. Our custodian arrived for work and was sent to the Activity Center to begin cleaning up the glass from the blown-out windows. Volunteers began to appear and started the task of cleaning the area from the sanctuary to the parsonage. Several were sent to the Activity Center to prepare the gym to serve a.s our sanctuary for the next several months. More volunteers arrived and began a massive clean-up of the grounds. Wiley continued to make phone calls to get contractors to assess the damage. Bobby, Wiley and Glenn met with the insurance adjuster and began a survey of all the facilities.
One of the major concerns
was the large stained glass window in the narthex of the church. The bottom right corner and one piece in another section had been blown- out. Coincidentally, (although we know with God there are no coincidences) , several weeks prior to the storm, Sally Zastrow, editor of “The Evangel” newsletter had been seeking information on the background, manufacturer and installer for an article she was writing. In late February, Ken Bailey (graphics/layout for “The Evangel”) had been researching for Sally and was able to locate Dan Sutton in Warner Robins, Georgia, the owner of Sutton Christian Supply Company, the company that. originally installed the stained glass window in the present sanctuary. The day following the storm, in walked Keith Sutton from Sutton Christian Supply Company. lie introduced himself and began to give us some history of the stained glass window and actually had some of the original drawings. Praise the Lord for divine Providence! Sutton Christian Supply is replacing the pews, steeple, our large stained glass window and both stained glass windows in the original sanctuary, now Hallelujah Hollow. What a blessing it has been to work with this Christian company!
Later that afternoon,
as the worn out volunteers began to leave, Hanna Webster asked if she should recruit more volunteers for Saturday clean-up. This was good news as the insurance adjuster had advised us earlier that if we would log the volunteer’s hours, the insurance company would pay the church for that time. Flanna compiled a list of workers and their hours for the weekend and several workdays thereafter. Saturday, the grounds were covered with volunteers, both church members and non-members. Ken Bailey, Music Director, and several volunteers worked all day getting everything in place for the temporary sanctuary. The Good News Sunday School room had been flooded by water, so the class was relocated to the office conference room. Despite some damage to the office and other rooms, meetings took place in the usual areas. By Saturday evening, the Activity Center was ready for Sunday worship. St. Mark never missed a beat and grew stronger as each day went by.
On Monday, March 5, 2007, the Trustee Committee voted unanimously to support a decision made on Saturday afternoon to close the Activity Center for all functions other than church related events. This would help protect sound equipment and musical instruments and eliminate the need to take-down and set-up equipment and chairs each week for worship services. The most important point in making this decision ‘was the fact that this would be the sanctuary for several months and it should be treated with reverence. This decision has been well received by all who use the facilities.
Over the next several weeks,
multiple meetings were held with Service Master, Sutton Christian Supply Company, insurance adjusters, and several contractors. Numerous decisions have been made and more will have to be made before St. Mark is able to move back into the sanctuary later this year. The repairs that have been completed to date are on pages 6 & 7. Further reports will be published in another issue.
Thanks to Glenn Myhand, Chairman of the Trustees Committee for providing valuable
background information for this article.

 
St. Mark UMC • 6795 Whitesville Rd • Columbus, GA 31904
Phone: 706-327-3376
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