St. Marks Then:
St. Mark's Episcopal Church stems from the Anglican Church of Maryland. In colonial times, several Anglican parishes in southern Maryland were established. One of these was the Piscataway Parish in Prince Georges County. This parish initiated the Prince Georges Parish, now known as Rock Creek Parish located in Washington, D.C. In the mid 1700's a chapel-of-ease of Rock Creek Parish was erected to serve parishioners in the remote areas along the Paint Branch stream. This chapel was given the name of Paint Chapel. The chapel served the geographical areas of Beltsville, White Oak, Adelphi, Fairland, Colesville, and Burtonsville. The location of this chapel today would have been in the area known today as Calverton-Riderwood.
From the mid 1700's until 1812, Paint Chapel struggled to exist. Depressed post-revolution economics and anti-Anglican sentiment hindered growth. In 1812, parishioners petitioned the Diocese of Maryland to recognize Paint Chapel as a separate parish. Paint Chapel became the parish church of Zion Parish for several years. Paint Chapel was renamed St. Marks' in 1835. St. John's, Beltsville was built during the 1830's, dividing the Paint Chapel congregation. Paint Chapel continued to exist but with difficulty due to the area's decline in agriculture and a reduced congregation. In 1835, St. Marks' was rebuilt and under the leadership of the Reverend William Pickney, thrived as never before.
Due to their strong attachment to the small chapel, several local families (Marlowe, Conleys, Cissels, Bealls, Duvalls, Hopkins and Fawcetts) continued their support prior to the Civil War. After the war, St. Mark's became a mission church of Grace Church of Silver Spring. Under the guidance of Reverend Avirett and support from the parishioners, St. Mark's, Fairland was built at its present site. Initially, some of Paint Chapel's material and furnishings were used in the new Church. In 1888, St. Marks' was re-annexed to Zion Parish, Beltsville. From this time until 1966, St. Mark's shared a rector and vestry with St. John's in Beltsville.
During the period 1945 to 1966, the Diocese of Washington established three new parishes within the boundary of the original St. Mark's boundaries; each drew significantly from the St. Mark's membership. In 1966, St. Mark's separated from Zion parish and called the Reverend Paul Mericle as its first full time priest. In 1970, St. Mark's was admitted as a parish to the Diocese of Washington, D.C. On Palm Sunday 1981, St. Mark's held its first service in a new colonial-style church building.
An unfortunate event occurred on Thanksgiving 1985 when a fire destroyed the old parish hall. In 1988, a construction program was started for a new parish hall, but had to be stopped due to financial and construction problems. Meanwhile, Reverend Mericle retired and the Reverend Mary Hansley came to St. Mark's as interim rector. Mary Hansley stayed at St. Mark's for two years putting the church back in order. The Reverend Steve Arpee served as part-time priest until the Reverend Paul C. Singer became the rector on June 20, 1993. Father Singer served as rector until December 1997 when tragically, he died from an inoperable brain tumor. Once again, St. Mark's found itself being served by an interim rector, the Reverend Nancy Noall. In June 2000, the Reverend Donna Brown accepted the rectorship of St. Mark's.
