Nearly 200 churchgoers, clergy and community members gathered last Sunday at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Highland to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Beginning with a service featuring prayers of gratitude and a song named for the church’s motto, “Built on Faith, Rooted in Love,” the celebration continued with a cookout featuring a catered barbecue lunch provided by Kloby’s Smokehouse in Laurel.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has roots in the community that date to the 1850s, according to the church’s website. As early as 1857, the residents of the Clarksville and Highland areas of the county began to consider building an Episcopal church. That year, Washington Adams proposed that a church be erected on a lot that he could donate, however, the Civil War intervened, and he died before the bequest was made.

The present church stands on a lot called Hickory Ridge, donated by Ferdinand Pue, one of the founders of the church. In 1874, the church was built at the intersection of modern-day Route 216 and Hall Shop Road and has been enlarged, maintained and steadily improved over the years.

For 150 years, the church has been more than a building, members say, it’s a place where generations have come together to find peace, worship and be strengthened by their faith.

Rector Chris Tang, has served as senior pastor of the church for about 18 months. Joining the church after serving congregations in Baltimore and Carroll counties for more than two decades, he said it is remarkable for the church to be celebrating its 150th anniversary.

“Celebrating a community that really does reflect the best of what religion should be, a deep caring for neighbor, a real love of other people despite all kinds of differences, is really worth calling out, particularly as we continue in this difficult period in our own country with this election,” he said. “To be able to hold on to those higher callings for us as American Christians and move away from this divisive rhetoric that we see and continue to experience and be able to have a party in the midst of that kind of chaos is really wonderful.”

John Beakes has attended the church for more than four decades and wrote a book documenting the church’s history.

“This celebration is an opportunity for us to bring out our appreciation for [the founding parishioners] and to understand what they had to go through and what they’ve been through,” he said. “We had World War I, we had the Roaring ‘20s, we had the Great Depression, we had World War II, we had the Korean War, we had the Vietnam War and all the protests, we had 9/11, we had COVID-19, but this place is a place where people come on a Sabbath to worship quietly and care for each other and practice our faith.”

During the celebration, churchgoers, clergy and community members of all ages gathered outside the church for the cookout following the service. Filling their plates with brisket, cornbread, green beans, ham, macaroni and cheese and potato salad, they sat at tables beneath a tent swapping stories about their time attending the church.

Lisa Viglotti, of Fulton, and her husband, John, were married at the church nearly two decades ago and have attended for years. Raising children in the church and now grandchildren, she said she hopes it will remain a place to raise a family.

“Going into the church today, there were so many little kids,” she said. “When your grandchildren go to the same church as you, that’s very unique.”

Rich Roca, of Columbia, has been attending the church for more than two decades. He said he hopes the church will continue in its mission of helping the community.

“What I hope the church does in the future is what it’s focused on right now,” he said. “Having an external view of who needs support and what can we do to [provide] it.”