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Although the efforts of the Wisconsin Synod to found a congregation in West Mankato date back twenty years earlier, the actual history of St. Mark's began with the calling of Martin Birkholz of St. James, Minnesota, as a missionary, by the Minnesota District Mission Board of the Wisconsin Synod in September, 1941. The missionary's call set the territories of West Mankato, LeHillier, and South Bend as the areas in which he should do canvass and exploratory work.
The months of September and October
were spent in canvass work and arranging a place for worship. The
only available building was the “Denver Hog Serum”
building at 524 West Front Street, and here the first service was
held November 2, 1941 with twenty-five in attendance. 
The Sunday
School was organized on November 9, 1941 with twenty children and two
teachers – Dorothy Anderson and Kenneth Zernechel. Lillian
Schueler of Immanual Lutheran Church was the first organist. The West
Side Chapel was rented for the first Christmas service. Confirmation
classes for children and adults were organized in January, 1942.
The Mission Board then extended a permanent call to the missionary and made West Mankato a regular mission station. He was ordained in the West Side Chapel, February 8, 1942. Sunday School and services were conducted regularly in the “Hog Serum” building for a little more than a year.
On June 28, 1942, the interested families met with the Minnesota District Mission Board for the purpose of organizing a congregation. The name “St. Mark's” was chosen and officers were elected. A total of fourteen voting members and twenty-eight communicants made up the charter memberships, and the fiscal year began in September, 1942.
Various efforts to obtain a better
place for worship finally met with success, when a part time rental
agreement for the West Side Chapel was negotiated with the West Side
Interdenominational Ladies Aid. With a churchly building, the
prospects for future growth improved greatly. By the close of 1943
the membership had grown to sixty-nine communicants.
The Ladies Aid was organized in February, 1944. In order to legally hold property, St. Mark's was officially incorporated in April, 1944. In 1945 the negotiation for the Henry Young property on West Seventh Street was completed, with a loan from the Church Extension Fund and $1000 raised by the young congregation. Mr. William Schumann, then vice president, with foresight, purchased the corner lot along Sibley Street and then donated it to St. Mark's. The congregation took over its property in September of 1946.
In the meantime, the work of teaching and indoctrination was becoming established, with the first children's confirmation on April 2, 1944. The same year Vacation Bible School was begun. This was a joint venture with St. Paul's of North Mankato, which continued for ten years.
With the close of WWII, St. Mark's
began to consider its own house of worship. After many years of
planning, bids to build the new church were opened on May 12, 1954.
St. Mark's own members, Harvey Anderson and Sons, were awarded the
general contract.. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on May 16,
1954. On May 1, 1955, the building was dedicated.
The dedication of
St. Mark's beautiful stone church was certainly one of the most
important events in the history of the congregation.
That same year the first baptism (Peggy Anderson) and the first funeral (Herman Wessel) were performed in the church. In 1956 the first wedding (Rosetta Stursa – Erwin Tischer) was performed. Also in that year the Wis. Synod Collegian Society and the Lutheran Pioneers were organized.
In 1958 the Girl's Pioneers was organized. In 1960 the congregation started an annual St. Mark's Day observance to celebrate the anniversaries of the congregation and to give thanks to God for His blessings. In 1962 St. Mark's pastor was appointed official campus pastor for Lutheran Collegians.
Over the next five years St. Mark's grew to a membership of 300 communicants and in 1967 St. Mark's celebrated their 25th Anniversary.
In 1973 the congregation began considering the idea of its own Christian Day School. Four years later, on January 13, 1977, the decision was made to open the school. On the 35th Anniversary of the church, Mr. Edward Becker (a 1977 graduate of Doctor Martin Luther College) was installed as the first principal and teacher on June 19, 1977. St. Mark's Christian Day School opened its doors September 6, 1977 with an enrollment of 19 children in grades 1-6. In 1980 the Christian Day School expanded to include grades 7 and 8. In 1979 St. Mark's also joined the Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School Association.
For five years the Day School operated in the basement of the church which interfered with other congregational activities. Thoughts turned to getting the Day School out of the basement and into a building of its own. In January of 1981, the congregation set a goal of $25,000 to be met by September 1 to get the proposed Educational Building Project started. The goal was met and on January 31, 1982 St. Mark's made the momentous decision to accept the bids for the construction of their school building.
On February 12 the contracts were
signed, and on March 21 the ground-breaking ceremony was held. Ten
months later in December of 1982 the St. Mark's Christian Day School
gratefully moved out of the basement and into their own building. In
1983 the school again expanded to include a morning kindergarten;
Mrs. Jean Jurgenson was called to teach this class. In 1986 Mrs.
Jurgenson's responsibilities increased to the teaching of the primary
grades of K-3 while Mr. Becker taught the upper grades of 4-8. As the
school grows, improvements continue to be made.
In 1984, after 42 years of faithful service, Pastor Birkholz announced his retirement. In June of that year St. Mark's held a special service and program to honor and thank the only pastor the congregation had known since its organization in 1942. In addition to Pastor Birkholz, there are still four Charter Members of St. Mark's. They are Mrs. Pauline Andresen, Mrs. Florence Dreeszen, Mr. Theodore Meyer and Mr. Henry Youngs.
After the announcement of Pastor Birkholz's retirement, a call was sent in April to Pastor Thomas Zahn to fill the vacancy at St. Mark's. Pastor Zahn, a 1976 graduate of the seminary, was serving two congregations in rural Medford, Wisconsin. Pastor Zahn accepted the call and arrived in Mankato on July 4, 1984. He was installed the following Sunday with Pastor Cloute, of Marshall, Minnesota, serving as preacher and Pastor Birkholz serving as liturgist.
The following year Pastor Zahn also took over the WELS Campus Ministry at Mankato State. Future plans for the Campus Ministry include the building of a Wisconsin Synod Student Center on Warren Street in the year 1990.
At the present time St. Mark's Church has a membership of 305 with 235 communicants. The Christian Day School's enrollment now stands at 28. St. Mark's congregation continues to grow with an Evangelism-Outreach Program that was initiated in 1987. St. Mark's is a growing congregation and welcomes all who wish to worship God and hear His Word in its truth and purity.
(Written by Arn C. Kind, in 1989)
(Addendum by Gerald Tjernagel, 2004)
1986: St. Mark purchased the property and house at 707 Carney Avenue.
1990: Mr. Edward Becker accepts the call to become principal-teacher at Niles, Illinois. Mr. Michael Mathwig was called in April to become teacher and principal at St. Mark’s School. He and his family moved to Mankato July 7, 1990.
1991: Mrs. Judy Palmquist accepted a call to become full time teacher for grades 1-4. St. Mark’s School expanded its services to include a Pre- Kindergarten program for the first time at the beginning of the new school year in September. This program was taught on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons by Mrs. Jean Jurgenson.
1994: Miss Deborah Schultz accepts the call to teach grades 1-4 replacing Mrs. Palmquist.
1995: Mrs. Wendy Johnson accepted the call to teach the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, replacing Jean Jurgenson. Mr. Michael Koester accepts the call to become teacher-principal of St. Mark’s, replacing Mr. Mathwig, who took a call to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
1998: Pastor Zahn went on medical leave in August. He resigned 90 days later due to health reasons. Retired Pastor Ray Schultz, a member of St. Mark’s, served as interim pastor both during Pastor Zahn’s medical leave and after he resigned until a full time pastor could be called.
1999: Pastor Keith Siverly, formerly serving in Michigan, accepted the call to serve St. Mark’s and was installed on February 28, 1999. In May a farewell party was held for the Zahn family, called “Zahn Appreciation Days.” Thursday evening services were approved for the summer. Voters elected to remove the old parsonage and sell the teacherage home at 707 Carney. At this time it was decided to provide housing allowances for the pastor and principal to allow them to purchase their own homes. The teacherage sold quickly. St. Mark’s was able to pay off the long-term, school-building debt to LACE as well as repay our own Memorial Savings Fund. Discussions began once again with St. Paul’s of North Mankato as to a possible joint school. A long-range planning committee was formed and began discussions. The old parsonage was burned down by the City of Mankato Fire Department on October 29, 1999.
1999: A major repair project was undertaken on the church and school. The church was completely reshingled, and a new pitched roof was built over the hallway/link between the church and school.
2000: Mrs. Wendy Johnson, 5 year Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten teacher, accepts a call to Hopkins, Michigan. Pre-Kindergarten has been suspended and Kindergarten expanded to full time. St. Mark’s School begins a band program with Mrs. Amy Urness as the director. In September, Mrs. Judy Palmquist and Mrs. LuAnn Sting were added as teacher aides. Miss Debbie Schultz is to teach full- time Kindergarten and grades 1-3.
2001: On September 16 ground was broken for the new church narthex. Building committee members were Committee Chairman: Neil Lillo; Finance Committee : JerryTjernagel, Frank Trojan, Paul Holzhueter, Rosemary Heinitz.; Building Committee :Stan Wills, Erwin Tischer, Brian Duenow, David Dallenbach; Interior Decorations and Appointments: Michael Schwertfeger, Val Holzhueter, Kristi Hough.
2002: Principal Michael Koester accepts the call to Columbus, Wisconsin. On June 30 St. Mark’s congregation celebrates the 60th years anniversary as an organized congregation and the 25th year anniversary of the Lutheran Elementary School. Aaron Heyn was assigned to St. Mark Lutheran School by the Martin Luther College Call Committee to serve as Principal and upper grade teacher.
2003: Debra Schultz resigned her call as the lower grade teacher. Mandy Walker was assigned to St. Mark Lutheran School by the Martin Luther College Call Committee to serve as the lower grade teacher for one year while her husband, Josh, completed his education at MLC. Pre-Kindergarten was reinstated for the 2003-2004 school year.
2004: Mandy Walker’s husband Josh completed his education requirements at Martin Luther College and was assigned a teaching call in North Richland Hills, Texas. Mandy resigned her call at St. Mark Lutheran School to relocate with Josh. Erica Haefner was assigned to St. Mark Lutheran School by the Martin Luther College Call Committee to serve as the lower grade teacher.
Throughout St. Mark’s history both the congregation and school have been blessed with dedicated, called workers. The time, talents and treasures of committed members have resulted in what the congregation enjoys today. Everything is to God’s Glory in all that has been done, is being done, and will be done. Thank you Lord!