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St. Mark's History

The people of St. Mark's have been the only Episcopal church in New Britain, Connecticut. Their immediate predecessor had been the parish of "Christ Church" in Wethersfield and Berlin.

The people of Christ Church organized in their first iteration as St. Mark's parish on August 28th, 1836. Mrs. George Francis has been considered the driving force behind the reorganization of the parish as St. Mark's.

In their second iteration as the parish of St. Marks, the congregation moved into a plain building on East Main Street often assumed to be a house. It contained 24 pews. St. Mark's was then one of 90 Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Connecticut and the 7th Episcopal congregation in Hartford County. They used the 1789 Book of Common Prayer.

In their third iteration as a parish, the people of St. Mark's moved into a building on the corner of West Main Street and Washington Street, was built in 1848, when Thomas C. Brownell was Bishop Diocesan of Connecticut and Philander Chase was the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. At that time, the building contained 60 pews and had both a spire and a bell tower. The 1789 Book of Common Prayer was in use until they used the 1892 Book of Common Prayer.

In 1921 the people of St. Mark's moved into their fourth iteration as a parish at 147 West Main St. when Chauncey B. Brewster was Bishop Diocesan of Connecticut and Daniel S. Tuttle was Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The this building incorporated many 1885 features from the second building. They used the 1892 Book of Common Prayer, the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, with supplements.

In January 2019, when Ian T. Douglas was Bishop Diocesan of Connecticut and Michael Curry was Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the people of St. Mark's moved to their fifth iteration as a parish at 90 Main Street in New Britain as part of a "church condominium" alongside several other denominational churches. This arrangement has been cited as being in the forefront of parish iterations in the current day and age. Below is a painting and a photograph of the building. St. Mark's currently uses the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, with supplements.

With the advent of Coronavirus-19, the people of St. Mark's began their sixth iteration, holding Covid/Post-Covid services either completely virtual or as a hybrid (virtual/on-site).

 "Open to God's love, serving our neighbor"

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