A Brief History of St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church
by Nancy Knapp

The story of Lomita’s first church begins in late July 1907 with Land Developer W. I. Hollingsworth selling lots. M. M. Eshelman, prominent Brethren elder and promotion agent for the Santa Fe Railroad assisted in sales promotion. Among the first to respond were a group of Eshelman’s Midwestern Brethren contacts in Kansas and Missouri. Rev. Zacheus Henricks, Emmanuel Henricks, and Isaac Root were among that group and later became three of the five charter directors of the church. Had it not been for these skilled Christian leaders, it would likely have been years before there was a church. These men knew how to mobilize the community; they offered Christian services in various homes. In 1909 W. I. Hollingsworth donated two lots for the town church at the corner of Woodward and Brethren Street (now 245th). Rev. Z. Henricks held the organizational meeting at his home on April 12, 1909, and the Certificate of Incorporation for Evangelical Union Christian Church was issued on June 30, 1909. The building was dedicated on Sunday, October 25, 1909. Rev. Z. Henricks, a carpenter by trade, had led the volunteer workers and had done much of the work himself. He served as pastor, without pay, as was the custom, until 1917. By then the little independent church had outgrown its quarters and Rev. Henricks, at the age of 77, was looking to retire to the Old Soldier’s Home in Sawtelle.

Rev. Dr. Charles M. Fisher, a Presbyterian minister, came in April 1917 and suggested that the church affiliate with the Presbyterian denomination. As a mission church, there would be funds for expansion so the congregation voted to become Presbyterian. Their application was accepted in April 1918 and the first meeting as First Presbyterian church of Lomita was held on May 12, 1918, with Rev. Fisher as acting pastor. Rev. Fisher resigned that fall due to poor health and passed away in 1921. Rev. E. E. Clark served from 1920-1925 and oversaw the building of a larger, modern edifice that was dedicated in October 1922. The church name was changed to Community Presbyterian to reflect its commitment to community.

The congregation fell on hard times during The Great Depression. Three pastors came and went in ten years as the church fell behind in their salaries. The congregation also suffered the total loss of Fisher Hall (the original church building) in the fire of 1930. In spite of it all, they managed to build a new fellowship hall and purchase a used theatre organ in 1932. By 1936 when Rev. John E. Orr arrived, the Nation was beginning to pull out of the Depression and was on the eve of WWII. Until the end of his pastorate in 1949, Rev. Orr stressed evangelism and stewardship and the congregation grew in numbers and turned its deficit into a surplus.

Rev. Eldon Durham arrived in 1950 and served until 1968. During this time the church changed its name to St. Mark’s since it now reached beyond the community to other cities. St. Mark, the first gospel written, seemed a particularly appropriate name for Lomita’s first church. The church purchased 3-1/2 acres on Pennsylvania Avenue and built a new campus with all-volunteer labor. The old property was sold and the first service was held in the fellowship hall of the new campus in May 1961. The current sanctuary was completed in June 1965. Rev. Durham’s legacy is the current campus, a base for doing ministry in the community, and his message to “Go into all the world” working for peace and justice.

Four pastors have served the church since 1968. Rev. Max Greenlee 1968-1981, Rev. Dr. Richard Miles, 1982-1997, Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Steele, 1998-2000, and Rev. Dr. Judith Cuthbertson, 2001-present. In 2003, after much prayerful study, the congregation wrote its mission statement and identified the core values that have sustained it over the last century. Those core values are: Faithful Devotion, Moral Courage, Compassion in Action, Creative Energy, and Joyful Service. We take these values into the next century.