Our Staff :
Pastor Mark is a local guy (2nd generation Floridian!)
Joy was born and raised in Ft.Worth
TX.
Together, they
have lived in Colorado, Texas,
Arkansas, and
Oklahoma!
Father God’s calling for Pastor Mark began when he was 19
years old while he was attending Operation
Uplift Mountain,
an intensive 8 week adventure discipleship. Following this, he was given the
honored request of returning as Co-Director of the same program he went through
earlier, to mentor other young men as they grow in the Lord. There, he met his
wife, Joy, who was also asked to serve as the Co-Director for the young ladies
attending Uplift Mt.
Through the
unparalleled experience of ministering together, Mark and Joy began a journey
of life together, celebrating engagement for marriage the following year. Then, once again, they were honored with the
privilege of serving Uplift
Mt. the following summer
in the same Co-Director positions.
Naturally, ministry on the mountain together shaped Mark and
Joy’s calling both to ministry and to each other. Therefore, Mark decided to
attend and graduate from John
Brown University
receiving dual BS degrees in Camp/Recreation Management and Youth Ministry.
During all of this, Joy served at New Life Ranch as the Food Service
Director while Mark attended college full-time. After welcoming their first
child, Hannah, she went on to complete her BS in Music with a primary in vocal
and secondary in piano.
Since then, Mark has served as Youth pastor in Arkansas, honoring
Christ by growing an existing program significantly in 2 years. He also
developed a Mentor Team of college small group leaders to assist the Youth,
which met weekly in the England
home. Joy, became mother of two, welcoming Caleb into their family, as well as
serving as worship leader and developer of rotating youth-led praise teams and youth
café for weekly youth meetings.
Two years later, the Englands
received a call from Pastor Mark’s home church in Palm City, FL
offering him the opportunity to create and serve the role of Associate Pastor.
So, they packed up, went cross-country from Arkansas, and have served there for 4 years.
During which, Pastor Mark hired the Calvary
Chapel Palm
City’s first ever
Children’s Ministry Director, his wife, Joy.
She was given the freedom to convert an entire wing of classroom
space into a welcoming Children’s Ministry Department, themed in nautical
design as the “Disciple Ship.” Under
God’s guidance and her leadership once again the numbers of young families with children
attending grew significantly. During that
time, she also developed a Children’s Worship team, a Fall Festival, their
first Vacation Bible School,
and an Easter Eggstravaganza.
Mark worked diligently in counseling, web design, overseeing
Youth & Children’s Departments, developing the Assimilation/Welcome
Ministry, as well as serving as itinerant Youth Director for a time. Together,
Mark and Joy completed their final project while at CCPC…converted and
designing the Youth ministry into a coffeehouse theme, ready to pass on to the
Youth Director Mark hired from Calvary Chapel Bible College.
Read "Our Story" here to find out how God unexpectedly transitioned Pastor Mark
and Joy to River
of Life!
Pastor Mark owns and operates “Integrity Lawns,” a
full-service lawn business on the side.
Joy homeschools her 2 children, Hannah
and Caleb.
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