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St. Mark’s Church, Westlands, is a congregation of the Anglican Church of Kenya in the Diocese of Nairobi and a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The ACK St. Mark’s Church, Westlands dates back to the year of the LORD 1907, and traces her beginnings to a location behind the present Parklands Police Station. The Church’s foundation stone was laid on 20th September 1907 by Lt. Col. T. Hayes Sadler, the then governor of Kenya. The Church was built to cater for the European community at the time. St. Mark’s is a parish church and its congregation now, comes from all over Nairobi and beyond.
The first Sunday worship service was conducted by the chaplain of Nairobi Rev. W. M. Fallon on 26th January 1908 and on 1st June of 1908 the first wedding between Richard Manuel Gaiter and Blanche Lu took place. The church was consecrated in 1910 by The Rt. Rev. William G. Peel. The church continued to grow by God’s grace as evident in the various development milestones recorded.
History paints St. Mark’s as a church whose members were committed to spiritual, numerical and physical growth, to the glory of God our Father. In 1921, St. Mark’s status was elevated to become a parish.
The Hammond organ was installed in 1938 and improvements were made to the church pews. A new altar was dedicated two years later. In 1940 and in 1946, Mrs. Morley Bennet donated new west doors.
At the time of its construction in 1907, St. Mark’s stood in the heart of the European area. As a result of rapid growth and expansion of the town, there was a need to move the church to cater for the advancing European residential estates. A decision was therefore reached to relocate the church to the current location along Waiyaki Way in the 1950s.
The St. Mark’s Women’s Guild, as it was known at the time, organized a fund-raising activity towards the construction of the new sanctuary. The fund raiser happened in Mr. Brach’s garden on 8th February 1958 and with support of Howe Theatre Group, they raised KES 275.
The project construction cost of the sanctuary was KES 30,000. More funds for the construction of the church were raised from special services collections on Sundays, donations by congregants and sale of the plot where the church was previously located. The legacy of a culture of commitment to growing St. Mark’s Church by her members lives on and continues to drive all development programs.
The foundation stone for the current sanctuary was laid by G.W. Anderson on 18th August 1958 and the church was consecrated in 1959. The old church was later dismantled in 1970 and some of the pews and stained glasses were transferred to the current church along Waiyaki Way.
After the church came to the present site a church hall was built under The Rev. E.R. Silberaver. St. Mark’s continued to grow and was instrumental in the planting of St. Bartholomew- Nyari Parish, St. Mary’s Church – Kabete, St. Joseph’s Church in Kabete and St. Barnabas Marurui; which were made separate parishes and have continued to grow and impact the community.
The church’s leadership and members have continuously responded to the needs of growth, both spiritual and numerical. A vestry wing with offices, boardroom and a kitchenette among many other facilities were built through internal resources. Tarmac was laid on the driveway to the church; a verger’s quarters and the vicarage were added. The church hall was expanded to cater for the growing needs of the church.
A nursery school was also developed at the church’s premises as well as facilities that can be used for training.
The car park project whose construction started in late 2008 is one of the recent major undertakings of the church as it marked Centennial anniversary since establishment and celebrations for the 50th year since the church was relocated to Westlands, Nairobi.
St. Marks Church has therefore continued to grow in terms of the size of the congregation, physical facilities and the Church’s role in the community. Due to its location in a multi-ethnic cosmopolitan suburb, it has attracted membership of people from diverse communities and nationalities.
To this day, St. Mark’s has experienced the entry and exit of 18 Vicars in charge; 7 Vicars at the old Parklands location and the other 11 at the current site along Waiyaki Way.
The current Vicar; Ven. Canon Joshua Omungo is the 19th. The Vicars who have served at St. Mark’s church include: