Ansan St. Mark's Church

History & origins

Ansan St. Mark Parish was established on September 26, 2006, after separating from Bono-dong St. John the Baptist Parish. It initially began under the provisional name Ildong Parish, while diocesan accounts note that Catholic life in the area had existed in the form of a mission community before the parish was created. For roughly two years the new parish worshipped in a basement church while building its communal foundation.

The construction of a new church formally began with a groundbreaking ceremony on February 15, 2009. On November 1 of that year, the parish name and patron were officially confirmed as Ansan St. Mark and Saint Mark the Evangelist. The building was completed on February 2, 2010, and the community celebrated its entrance Mass on March 14. These stages gave the independent parish its name, patronal identity, and permanent church.

Preparation for formal dedication continued after the move. On October 15, 2016, Bishop Mathias Lee Yong-hoon presided at the dedication of the church, ten years after the parish had been established. The decade-long movement from a basement church to construction, naming, occupation, and final dedication forms the central narrative of the parish’s early history. Another important feature is that the parish name and patron were formally settled during the church-building process. The community first existed and celebrated Mass, and only as it prepared a permanent church did its name and patronal identity become fully defined. The first decade can therefore be understood as a period in which administrative foundation, physical settlement, and spiritual identity developed together. The final dedication symbolized the completion of this formative period. Even after beginning to use the church, the community continued its preparation for several more years and, through dedication, received the building fully within the liturgical meaning of the Church.