Forty years ago, First Christian Church Pastor Rev. Mark Young walked up to the pulpit in a church in Mason City, IA and begin his career as a pastor.
“I knew this would be my life long calling,” Mark said.
During his career as a pastor, Mark has been the pastor at five different church across Iowa. He spent two years in Mason City. He spent five years in a church in Lewis. He spent 19 years at a church in Clarion. He spent six years at a church in Clear Lake and has been the pastor in Newton for eight years. The journey that led him to Newton has been filled with memories and lessons, but one lesson has stuck with him since being the pastor at a church in Clarion.
“An older preacher described the church as a log,” Mark said. “If you try to hold a match under the log, it will never catch on fire. Instead, find pieces of kindling wood and set them on fire soon the whole log will catch on fire. His lesson was about getting people excited (on fire) for Jesus Christ is the only way to set your church on fire for Jesus Christ. I was struggling at the time with the church, but went on to be the pastor of that church for 19 years.”
Being in the same career for 40 years, he has seen many changes to his job mostly due to the advancements of technology.
“Technology makes me available to my congregation 24 hours a day,” Mark said. “More information is open filled with facts and ideas to help advance the church.”
In October of 2006, Mark began preaching at First Christian Church in Newton. He noticed a struggle in the community, but found one thing stood out about Newton from all the other communities that he has lived in.
“Newton is a community that loves to work hard, which is the reason I feel that got us through the hard years,” Mark said. “The church has been my favorite part of Newton, it truly hasn’t felt like forty years because I love my job and what I do.”
In 2007, Mark would begin the Iowa Speedway Ministry. Mark was the lead Chaplin for the speedway from 2007 to 2012. Mark thought the program was very successful for the fans and work crews of Iowa Speedway.
“The Iowa Speedway Ministry will be restructuring with NASCAR and is set to come back for the July race,” Mark said. “I truly have a passion for it with my previous work as the Chaplin at I-35 Speedway in Mason City. It was a pleasant surprise when I heard about NASCAR purchasing the track. NASCAR is good for Iowa Speedway. We will be out there strong for the last two races of the season.”
Pastor Mark is married to St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Pastor Rev. Audrey Young for nearly 12 years.
“It’s exciting to have someone with the same passion and understanding of being a pastor, which is very important in a marriage,” Mark said.
In all the moments of Mark’s work in the past forty years his highlight moment was baptizing his three boys Adam, Aaron and Andrew. Mark also has step children with his wife Audrey.
On Sunday June 1 the First Christian Church will celebrate Mark’s forty years of ministry. As he celebrates year number forty he will remember the relationships and the friendships with the many people he has met in his time of work.