History of Saint Mark Church

The rich history of Saint Mark United Methodist Church parallels in many respects the modern history of the City of Atlanta, and the story of the church’s growth is intertwined with that of the city’s expansion and welcoming to all people.

In 1872 the First Methodist Church, located at Walton and Forsyth, opened a mission in a house located on the east side of Peachtree Street just north of what is now Eighth Street. This area, beyond the city limits, was called “Tight Squeeze.” Notorious since the Civil War as a haven for cutthroats and thieves, the stretch of Peachtree between present-day Eighth and Twelfth Streets originally looped around a thirty-foot ravine that ran east from present-day Crescent Avenue down toward Piedmont Avenue. It got its name from the saying that it was a “tight squeeze getting through there with your life."

This first mission was called “Peachtree Street Mission” or the “City Mission.” A frame church was erected and the mission relocated to Merritts Avenue, which runs between Peachtree and Courtland Streets. Several dates have been given for the move, but 1875 seems to be widely accepted. The new church was called the Sixth Methodist Church (1875-86) and later renamed the Merritts Avenue Methodist Church (1886-98). Bishop Warren A. Candler , then a junior preacher (and later became a bishop in the Methodist church as well as President of Emory College, now Emory University), was its first pastor.

The history of the current building really begins in the year 1900, when the Board of Trustees of Merritts Avenue Methodist Church began its search for new property. By 1901 with a membership of 319 the congregation had outgrown its Merritts Avenue location. The congregation sold its property and used the proceeds to buy a new lot at Peachtree and 5th Streets. The site chosen for the new church was located in the midst of fine residences.

In January of 1902, the congregation officially changed its name to Saint Mark M.E. Church, South. On October 22 of the same year the cornerstone was laid for the new building on Peachtree. The original building consisted of the main sanctuary and the rooms behind and below this area.

The church building is constructed of Stone Mountain granite. The main facade that fronts on Peachtree Street has a triple entrance portal beneath a large lancet-arched window and front gable. The heavy wood doors are original to the building. The left corner of the facade is dominated by a tall bell tower with lancet-arched windows and openings, wall buttresses, and steeple. The right corner of the main facade has a narrow, polygonal-shaped tower and spire. The north and south facades have a cross gable with rose window, six lancet-arched windows, and wall buttresses. The northeast corner of the rear of the building has a polygonal tower with spire.

The church is one of three extant churches designed by noted Atlanta architect Willis Franklin Denny  (1874-1905). The other two churches, also constructed with Stone Mountain granite, are Inman Park Methodist (1897) and First Methodist (1903). Mr. Denny designed several residences in Inman Park and was associated with Morgan and Dillon in the design of the Healey Building as well as Rhodes Hall on Peachtree Street.

The four rose windows in the sanctuary, two windows in the cloak room under the northwest tower, and the three lancet-arched stained-glass windows above sets of double doors between the narthex and the sanctuary are representative works of American opalescent glass. The twelve pictorial stained-glass windows on the north and south walls were installed between 1909 and 1959. The windows were designed and made by Franz Mayer and Company of Munich, Germany. The windows were made with the pot-metal glass technique that was used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This technique allows for greater luminosity and clarity of colors, as well as complexity of shapes and sizes of glass pieces and detail in the leadwork. Four windows were installed in 1909, one in 1928, and one in 1932. The remaining six windows were made in Germany and were installed in 1956, 1957, and 1959. The themes of the windows are based on the life of Christ.

The church grew rapidly, particularly after World War I, when it became clear that larger facilities were needed for the growing Sunday school program. The congregation raised funds to acquire the piece of property and frame house next door, owned by David Woodward, and was able to close on the purchase in 1922.

The next phase of Saint Mark’s building development came in 1946, with a building renovation and construction program that resulted in the construction of the Frances Winship Walters Chapel and a new educational unit in 1948. It was designed by Atlanta architect Francis P. Smith and is also constructed of Stone Mountain granite. The sanctuary also received some upgrading and modernization.

The 1950’s witnessed the final addition to the current structure with the extended educational building. After that, the next major construction to our building was the renovation of the fellowship areas, including Wade Hall and the Jamison Room, done in the 1980’s. In 1986 the altar railing was restored and new handcrafted needlepoint kneelers were installed in the sanctuary.