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While I was born in Idaho in 1950, my family moved to Tempe when I was two years old so Arizona is really the place that I call home. I grew up in Tempe, graduated from Tempe High School in 1968 and Arizona State University in 1982. As you can see from the dates, my journey through the university was not typical. I took a four-year break from 1970-74 to serve Uncle Sam in the United States Navy where I was blessed to be stationed in Rota, Spain and Washington, D.C.

Following military service I returned to school at ASU where I studied music for three years and earned my living teaching guitar and 5-string banjo and playing in night clubs around the Phoenix area. I took another three-year break and learned the typesetting/printing trade (the proverbial "something to fall back on") before returning to ASU in 1980 to pursue a degree in Computer Information Systems through the college of business which I completed in 1982.

In 1985 I moved to Prescott, Arizona and started my own business as a computer consultant. I met Candace while singing in the church choir and despite the somewhat intimidating fact that she has three children from a previous marriage we began dating and were married in August of 1986. (Our children are Rebecca, now age 27; Melissa, age 25 and Katie, age 23. Rebecca is an assistant attorney general in Safford, Arizona; Melissa is serving as a associate minister at North Scottsdale United Methodist Church, Scottsdale, Arizona,; and Katie is pursuing her Doctor of Psychology degree at Argosy University in Phoenix, Arizona.)

Now that there were five of us, I took a job at Del Webb, Inc. in Sun City West as a programmer/analyst and we moved back to Phoenix in 1987.

About this same time, God began calling both Candace and me to the ordained ministry. We struggled with this call for some time because we were buying a home and raising a family. Then, in 1989, God began to nudge a little harder and we found ourselves pulling up stakes and moving to Claremont, California where we both enrolled in the Claremont School of Theology Master of Divinity program.

During our seminary years I served as the Minister of Membership for First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and Candace served as Director of Christian Education and Youth Ministries at the Claremont United Methodist Church. I completed seminary in 1993 and was appointed to continue at First Congregational Church while Candace finished her seminary courses.

When Candace graduated in 1995 we were both appointed to the Verde Valley where I served as pastor of Camp Verde UMC and Candace served as pastor of Haven UMC in Jerome. Candace also served as the Verde Valley Youth Coordinator, overseeing the youth ministry for all three Verde Valley United Methodist churches -- Camp Verde, Cottonwood and Jerome.

Pastor Mark & Pastor Candace

In 1999 I was appointed to The Fountains, A United Methodist Church, in Fountain Hills and Candace was appointed as youth pastor at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The following year she was appointed to start a brand new church (from scratch), Song of Life United Methodist Church in Queen Creek. While she was planting that church, I led The Fountains through a property search/acquisition process and building project for their new sanctuary.

In 2004 I wrote and published my first book, What Jesus Really Taught and Why We Don't Believe It.

Candace and I have been accepted into the online global Doctor of Ministry degree program at Drew Theological School and begin our course work this July, 2006, with a special class in Wales on Celtic Christianity: Celtic Pilgrimage - Ancient Sites, Ancient Gods and a Living Faith. Through visits to sites in North Wales and through lectures, the class explores Celtic history, literature and religion and traces Celtic influences on contemporary faith and practice.

We are looking forward to our new appointments in Las Vegas as pastor for Trinity United Methodist Church while Candace will once again plant a new church in the northwest area.