St Mark’s Church in Portadown 200-year history celebrated in new book
A new book has been launched to celebrate the 200th anniversary of St Mark’s Church in Portadown.
Armagh Robinson Library hosted the book launch, when the Library’s Keeper, Very Rev Shane Forster, gave a warm welcome to all who had attended.
The church’s long history dates back to when Viscount Mandeville gifted land to have a church built and £1,000 for that purpose in Portadown.
The parish minutes of 1826 records the first Easter Vestry taking place on March 29, 1826, and later that year the church was consecrated on November 14, 1826.
The new book, titled ‘St Mark’s Church, Portadown 1826 – 2026’ details the history of the church to coincide with the special anniversary.
Rector, Rev William Orr, reflects in the book’s foreword: ‘As we celebrate 200 years of the life and witness of St Mark’s Church, we do so as a community of faith, stretching all the way back to 1826, when the rector and Select Vestry of Drumcree Church of Ireland had the vision to plant a new congregation right in the middle of Portadown.
‘Since then, St Mark’s has been writing its own history with literally thousands of individual stories, and as they say, if these walls could talk, what a story and what history they could share!’
Copies of the book were presented at the launch to representatives of three libraries, Portadown Library, the Cultural Heritage Service Library and the host library, Armagh Robinson Library.
The book will be available for sale at £15 by contacting the Parish Office, telephone 028 3836 2294 or by e-mail [email protected]