St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm Duane, just along for the ride. Now, every good congregation has a beginning, and St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Bay City has one worth knowin'.

It doesn't start from nothing. It starts from somewhere else, which is maybe the more honest way a community begins. The roots of this congregation reach back to Christ Church, over in Matagorda.

When the Matagorda county seat picked up and relocated to Bay City in 1894, a good number of those Christ Church members came right along with it. You don't leave your faith at the city limits, after all. The following year, 1895, the congregation was formally organized under the leadership of the Reverend John U.

Graf. And here's where the story gets a little texture to it. Those early worshippers didn't have a church building yet, so they held their services in a two-story frame building that was also pulling duty as a temporary courthouse.

Hymns in the morning, maybe court in the afternoon. The Lord and the law, sharin' the same roof. The congregation kept at it, kept growin', and in 1901, during the ministry of the Reverend John L.

Sloan, the first true church building was completed. Their own walls, their own windows, their own place to gather. Through all the years that followed, St.

Mark's held to something steady: a commitment to community service and outreach. Not just a congregation turned inward, but one with its hands in the life of the town around it. Some buildings just hold people.

Some hold something more.

What the marker says

This congregation traces its roots to Christ Church, Matagorda, from which parish many of its early members had come following the relocation of the Matagorda county seat to Bay City in 1894. Formally organized in 1895 under the leadership of the Rev. John U. Graf, St. Mark's held early worship services in the two-story frame building that also served as a temporary courthouse. The first church building was completed in 1901 during the ministry of the Rev. John L. Sloan. Over the years, the congregation has placed an emphasis on community service and outreach. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986