Tomorrow July 31 will mark exactly 45 years of ordained ministry for me. This past month I went to a reunion where I was with people that have known me since 1967. More than once I had the sincere question posed to me, “Mark, I admit I never saw you as a minister. How did that happen”? I am never offended by the question, in fact I have wondered the same thing. My answer was usually something like this—“Well, neither did I. It was sort of an experiment that worked. I backed into ministry”. The one thing I was never going to be was a local church pastor. Well, six local churches later I admit I was mistaken.
The irony of my 41 years of life in the local church is that I love it. My greatest fear about “the still small voice of a call” was that if I was a pastor I couldn’t be who I really was. Well, with some loving guard rails I have managed to be “me”. I call myself a narrative theologian. Simply stated, “the divine is revealed and encountered through story”. So whether it is through preaching or listening to another’s story, the mystery of loving connection comes.
In these 45 years I have served in the following roles— Institutional chaplain at the Enid State School, associate minister at Central Christian Church, Pueblo, senior pastor at First Christian Church in Alamosa, and then as a ‘yoked pastor’ also serving the First Christian Church of Monte Vista. Then, moving on from “The Valley”, I served nearly 18 years as the senior pastor of South Broadway Christian Church in Denver. I failed retirement, and went to work as a Lyft driver following a three month stint as an interim at First Christian in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 2017 I became ‘pastoral duct tape’ at the First Christian Church of Greeley—I am now well into my 6th year there.
In the great imagination of God, I found my way into a life where I can honestly say “I love what I have been able to do”. A local church pastor who is connected with their congregation is much like the family doctor. I get to be with people at every twist and turn of life. Ministry is not about having answers but being present to life, grace, pain, sorrow, joy, transitions, birth, death, and having fun living with people on the journey.
I am a blessed man because I have been able to live my life doing what I love to do. Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 
It’s been an outstanding calling – I am a better person as a result of you answering that call!! Congratulations!
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Wait, there was a reunion this past month? Hmm, how’d I manage to miss that? Congratulations on the anniversary of your calling. Well done.
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You wrote: “Ministry is not about having answers but being present to life, grace, pain, sorrow, joy, transitions, birth, death, and having fun living with people on the journey.” I ran across the song “This is the Place” by the Gaither Vocal Band during 2020 when we were not allowed to attend worship services in person. It came to mind as I was reading our post. Hope you get a chance to listen to it. (I know it’s on Spotify)
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