A little About Us

Meet Pastor Mark

Pastor Mark was raised in a Christian Home and at a young age was introduced to Jesus Christ by his mother. They lived on a small cattle ranch in Montana, where his dad was a university professor of agriculture and ran cattle on the side for extra income. There was very rarely a Sunday when the family was not in church. His earliest memory of church is that of attending an independent Bible Church which, at the time, was called Grace Baptist Church. During Pastor Mark's junior high, the family changed churches to an Evangelical Free Church that was being planted in Bozeman, Montana, where they lived. In 1986 Mark graduated from Bozeman high school and began attending Azusa Pacific University (a Christian liberal arts college) in Southern California. It was at this time that he felt the call to Ministry while assisting with a youth program at a local church. After two years of college at Azusa Pacific University, he transferred to Montana State University, where in 1991 he received a bachelor of science in secondary education. After taking a couple years off from school, he attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois and received a master’s of divinity degree in 1999. While at Trinity, he did his internship at the Highland Park Evangelical Congregational Church. It was at this time that he joined the Evangelical Congregational Church. After graduating he continued to help Pastor Dirk Pogue at the Highland Park Church until he was placed at Amity Road Evangelical Church. On July 1, 2005, Pastor Mark began ministering at Trinity Evangelical Congregational Church, Shamokin, PA. and continued there until August 31, 2011. Then he ministed at Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church in Ashland, PA. God provided Pastor Mark with a beautiful wife, Beth-Ann, on May 19, 2007. Beth-Ann graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University with a B.S. Bible and B.A. Music degrees. Before Beth-Ann married Mark, she ministered with Child Evangelism Fellowship.

How Mark and Beth-Ann Met

Who would have ever believed that a 32 year old single woman would find her "Knight in Shining Armor" through a blind date set up by Pastor Gary Brown! Beth-Ann attended a conference with a co-worker, Terri Renfrew, and Terri's sister, Connie. The day Beth-Ann heard about Pastor Mark was the same day Connie specifically prayed that Beth-Ann would find her dream man. We stayed at Pastor Gary's house during the conference. Beth-Ann had almost given up on the prospect of marriage, but Mark kept heart, and never gave up! Pastor Gary called Mark and asked him if he was interested in meeting Beth-Ann. Mark and Beth-Ann met March 5 AD 2006 and had a "date" with Beth-Ann's parents at Dunkin' Donuts. After Mark's vacation to Hawaii, the two began to date and call each other about 1 time per week. Soon the calls and visits became more frequent. Finally, by February 14, AD 2007, Mark asked Beth-Ann to marry him! Wow, GOD works in amazing ways! Mark and Beth-Ann were married May 19, AD 2007. The couple enjoyed a beautiful and awesome honeymoon in Mark's home state, Montana.

Full Time Volunteer

Beth-Ann's friend told her that his wife was a "full time volunteer". Yes, finally a title that describes the ministry God has for Beth-Ann. The main ministry that Beth-Ann loves is ministry to her husband. Beth-Ann also enjoys being involved in Bethany Bible Club. Because she was trained and worked for Child Evangelism Fellowship as both a county director and state trainer, she loves ministry to children. She is training individuals to teach children about Jesus in Bethany Bible Club. The kids are awesome, and although the numbers are small so far, God is working. Beth-Ann graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University with degrees in Bible and Church Music, piano emphasis. Because of this, Beth-Ann also loves music.