Centre County church with service focus marks 200th anniversary. ‘Something special’

St. Mark Lutheran Church is celebrating its 200th anniversary this month, and some members of the congregation think its best days could still be ahead.

St. Mark’s current building at 850 Snydertown Road was built in 1884 in Snydertown — a small, rural community in the Nittany Valley. For Olivia Whitehill, the church has been the backdrop for the most important events in her life.

A school nurse at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in State College, Whitehill said she’s “coming full circle” at St. Mark. She was baptized in the church as an infant, got married there as an adult and most recently had her child baptized.

“It’s definitely just always been a warm and welcoming place,” Whitehill said. “Whether I was at a high point in my life or at a low point, I always just felt welcome, loved.”

Since the Lutheran congregation began in 1825, families have dedicated themselves to not only the church, but to helping members of the community.

“It’s just always been an active church in terms of helping people, doing things, even when they didn’t have a pastor,” said David Pencek, who has served as pastor for four years.

Through its social action committee, the congregation works with a number of local organizations, such as Roads to Peace, Centre Safe and Out of the Cold: Centre County. The church also runs a food pantry inside of its building and is hosting an outdoor concert series this summer.

“We’re obviously not big, and you have to be intentional to find us, but I think people know we’re here, that know if there’s a need, they can reach out to us,” Pencek said.

Pencek is a second-career pastor who worked as a journalist and editor after graduating from Penn State in 1994. He left his job with Town&Gown magazine in 2017 to enroll in seminary school, later becoming the full-time pastor at St. Mark in September 2021.

According to Whitehill, St. Mark is still reaching new people after 200 years. She said recent initiatives under Pencek’s leadership, such as community service and public events, have helped the church make a greater impact in the community.

Whitehill has been involved with Service and Snacks, a youth service club that has worked with organizations such as Centre County PAWS and most recently grew tomato plants to put in the church’s food pantry.

“I think we’re in a phase of growth and that’s so awesome to see, because that’s definitely not the case at many churches today,” Whitehill said.

Judy Seymour is the director of Christians with Rhythm, a community choir that involves people from several churches in the area. She said she started the group 18 years ago because she wanted a group of people who “love to sing as much as I do.”

Seymour said she has gone to St. Mark for 71 years, and her parents and grandparents were members there, too. Like Whitehill, she believes the church is enjoying a period of growth.

“We have had our ups and downs,” Seymour said. “We’ve had our times where we’ve been real vibrant, and then we’ve had our times where attendance has been low, but now it’s definitely growing again, and especially with Pastor David. ... We are growing more and more all the time.”

Pencek said he will invite former pastors back to St. Mark for a dinner and special service to commemorate the 200th anniversary and the congregation’s growth. The dinner will be at 4 p.m. on July 26 at the Nittany Valley Fire Company, and the service will be at 10:30 a.m. on July 27 at St. Mark.

“We have something special going on at our church,” Whitehill said. “I think the Holy Spirit is alive and well, maybe it’s something in the water — I think it’s holy water of some sort. We definitely have a spirit-filled place and people.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2025 at 6:30 AM.

Sam Woloson

Centre Daily Times

Sam Woloson is a news intern for the Centre Daily Times. He graduated from Penn State in May 2025, where he spent time as a football reporter and the managing editor of The Daily Collegian.