About St. Mark’s
Our mission is to nurture faith and life for loving service in Christ's name.
St. Mark's is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. The ELCA has a proud history of diversity in its people and ideas, along with a focus on helping others throughout the world, and these values represent our congregation well.
Words best capturing the feeling of St. Mark’s might be “spirit” or “community of togetherness” or “trust.” We are grounded through our worship, our intergenerational mix, our generosity, our outreach and mission orientation, our caring. Love and service flow outward from what happens inside in worship and activities. We also bring the world into the building. We are a Lutheran church open to all, and all are invited into our communal life, leaning on God’s promises together.
Who We Are
We are called and empowered to be:
LOVING COMMUNITY
Giving importance to human relationships, celebrating individual gifts, and maintaining a sense of belonging.
CHRIST-CENTERED
Proclaiming the Word of God through worship, sacraments, prayer, and study.
ACTION-ORIENTED
Seeing the image of God in all people and striving to do God's work in the community and the world.
DEVOTED
Serving faithfully with passion and dedication.
Our History
Because there was a need and because there was a dream, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church was formed as a mission congregation of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. Land was purchased in 1952 in the expanding southwest part of Sioux Falls, where corn fields had not yet given way to paved roads, trees or neighborhood homes. With the generous support of Augustana Lutheran Church (8th St. and Prairie Ave.) in Sioux Falls and the other Swedish-background churches of the Sioux Falls District, St. Mark’s embarked upon its ministry.
The congregation’s organizational meeting was held on November 29, 1954. Its first pastor was the Reverend Dallas Young. Worship services were held in the chapel of Bethany Lutheran Home until the church’s first unit was completed in 1958. St. Mark's was designed as a fully accessible building long before ADA requirements. The congregation joined the other churches of the Sioux Falls District as a part-owner of Bethany Home.
In 1962, St. Mark’s became part of the newly merged Lutheran Church in America (LCA). In 1975, the congregation constructed its distinctive pyramid-shaped sanctuary and began expansion of its office, Sunday School, and lower-level space. In 1988, along with the LCA, St. Mark’s became part of the newly formed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
In September 2000, the church dedicated its latest building addition. On October 30 & 31, 2004, St. Mark’s celebrated its 50th anniversary with all six of its former pastors present.
St. Mark’s is known as a vibrant, open, mission-minded, and welcoming congregation. A treasured building feature is the expansive, clear-glass sanctuary windows which signify our desire to both see and be seen by the world outside.
