Saint Mark United Methodist Church
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation was formed in 1940 by the merger of several historic Fort Worth Methodist Churches. The Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1883 with twenty charter members under the leadership of the Rev. P.S. Juhline. Use of the Swedish language during worship services continued until 1920. In 1924 the name of the congregation was changed to Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. Six years later, St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church merged with the Broadway Congregation. St. Paul's had been organized in 1877 with thirty charter members under the leadership of the Rev. Harvey Webb. Mulkey Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church began in the late 1880s as a mission of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Worth. The church was named for the Rev. and Mrs. William Mulkey, parents of George Mulkey, who was a charter member of the new church. The Rev. John M. Barcus served as first pastor. At the 1940 Annual Conference these historic congregations merged to become the Broadway-Mulkey Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The name St. Mark was adopted in 1945. The congregation has worshiped at this site since 1960. [Now renamed Christ-Life Church]
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation grew from the immigrant and mission churches of early Fort Worth, beginning with the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church organized in 1883, where services were held in Swedish until 1920. Over the following decades it merged with St. Paul's (1877) and the Mulkey Memorial mission, becoming Broadway-Mulkey in 1940 and taking the name St. Mark in 1945. The united church settled at its present site in 1960.
Why it matters
The congregation's Swedish roots and long chain of mergers trace the immigrant communities and ethnic churches that helped build Fort Worth, and how they gradually blended into the mainstream of American Methodism.
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Related people
- · P. S. Juhline
- · Harvey Webb
- · John M. Barcus
Themes & tags
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