Mark is to be ordained as a deacon on Sunday 2 July and will serve his curacy in the parish of Tettenhall Regis
"I have lived in the village of Bilbrook, a village to the north-west of Wolverhampton, and worshipped at Holy Cross Church all my life. I am 51 years old (but please do not tell too many people) and I am married to Jo (25 years this year), who is an assistant head teacher in a local school. We have two children, Peter who is at university reading a degree in Mathematics and Hannah who is currently taking her GCSE exams.
"I, along with the rest of the family, am a season ticket holder at Wolves, it’s been a difficult season! We also enjoy spending Monday evenings at Monmore Green watching Wolves speedway and try to get to Edgbaston as much as we can to watch cricket, whilst we also love a night out at the darts. As you can probably see, I enjoy watching sport, not necessarily participating in it!
"I have worked as a structural engineer since I graduated in 1995, and currently work at a practice in Stoke-on-Trent. I plan to continue working full time, whilst exercising my ordained ministry within the parish, community and workplace.
"I have spent the past three years training part time at The Queens Foundation, Birmingham. The college has been nothing but supportive during that time, and fully understand the pressures of studying part time.
"As a self-supporting minister, I believe that my vocation is to not only God’s church, but also to my family and profession. I have come to acknowledge that these vocations working in unison with each other makes me a more effective minister and that God is at work in all aspects of my life. It is my hope that during my curacy and beyond I can explore what ministry within the secular workplace may look like.
"Although I have felt my calling to ordained ministry since my mid-twenties, my prayers have always been that God will give me opportunities to equip me to be an effective minister in His church. Although I have come to ordained ministry later in life, I believe I believe that I now come to it with that life experience, realism, empathy, and sense of humour that will help me minister to and walk alongside others.
"I would advise anyone who is exploring God’s call to ordained ministry on their lives to listen. Listen for God’s calling voice in your prayers and be attentive to His words in your conversations with others. Also, never believe that you are not good enough. God’s church needs ministers from all backgrounds if it to effectively minister to the communities that it serves."