Augustana Synod
(1860-1962)
Albany Park (Olavus Petri, All Saints)
Augustana
Austin Messiah
Bethany
Bethel
Bethel English
Bethesda
Bethlehem
Calvary
Capernaum (St. Mark's)
Central
Christ the King
Concordia
Ebenezer
Ebenezer (Oakdale)
Elim
Emaus (Jefferson Park)
First Gethsemane
Grace
Gustavus Adolphus
Immanuel
Irving Park
Lebanon (Cragin)
Lebanon (Hegewisch)
Messiah (North Side)
Messiah (South Side)
Nebo
Olivet
St. James
St. John's
St. Luke's
St. Mark's (Capernaum)
St. Matthew
St. Paul's
Salem
Saron
Tabor
Trinity
Zion

Swedish Evangelical Capernaum Lutheran Church /
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church

  St. Mark's Lutheran Church - 88th St.
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Capernaum Church, a member of the Augustana Synod, by members of Elim Lutheran Church living in the Dauphin Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Beginning with Sunday School work in 1904, the congregation was organized on January 30, 1906. Joining with Ebenezer Lutheran Church of Oakdale to share a pastor, the congregation called its first pastor in 1907. A wood-frame chapel (pictured below) at 740 E. 91st Place was constructed in 1909-1910, with dedication held on April 3, 1910.

CapernaumAug.jpg (95583 bytes)

English was adopted as the language of the congregation around 1920. From 1921 to 1940 Capernaum shared a pastor with Lebanon Lutheran in Hegewisch.

To facilitate a fresh start after the Great Depression, Capernaum changed its name to St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1937. A new building (pictured at top) was constructed at 655 E. 88th Street at Langley Avenue and dedicated on December 21, 1941.

St. Mark's underwent a racial change in the 1950s, eventually becoming an African-American congregation.

Pastors

A.T. Lorimer 1907-1908
Carl Henderson 1909-1912
O.O. Echardt 1921-1923
Julius Nordling 1922-1940
Theodore Matson 1940-1941
Martin Carlson 1941-1945
Robert Edlen 1946-1953
Peter E. Erickson 1953-1961
Ray L. Forstrom 1961-1965
Richard J. Winser 1965-1967
Paul K. Hanson 1967-1976

Original records
Original records of ministerial acts for 1906-1940 and church minutes from 1906-1952 are located at the ELCA Archives in suburban Chicago, as are copies of congregational histories and other materials relating to St. Mark's.
Early books have been microfilmed and are available at the ELCA Archives and at the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. Filmed as Augustana #A16, the microfilm contains records from 1906-1939.


Sources
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 50th Anniversary, 1956.

St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 65th Anniversary, 1971.

 

Copyright 2002 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.   
Please contact the Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
at archives@elca.org with any comments, questions or corrections.