In 1954, pastor Mark Chavez was baptized a month after his birth in Denver, Colo. His father, Arthur Chavez, was a devout Catholic whose parents had migrated from Spain to New Mexico. On the other hand, Mark's mother, Viola, was a German Lutheran. "Both were stubborn," noted Mark. For the sake of the family, Arthur thought it was best to worship together, and knowing his wife wouldn't budge, he asked his mother for her blessing to leave the Catholic church. According to Mark, Arthur's mother was a devout Catholic. Growing up, Mark's family spent every Sunday at his grandmother's house. "There was a crucifix in every room in her huge house," recalled Mark. Nevertheless, she gave Arthur her blessing.

Mark was raised a Lutheran and eventually entered ordained ministry in the Lutheran church. In May of this year, he became the pastor at Reformation Lutheran Church, 2100 Manor Ridge Drive, Lancaster.

However, he initially tried to avoid the call to ordained ministry by serving in the U.S. Air Force, which he joined in 1972. During his time in the Air Force, Mark was given a fellowship to study in Oxford, England. The only Lutheran congregation in Oxford consisted of a group of people who left Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Mark only attended church a few times. "I didn't speak a word of German; I took Spanish in high school," he explained. Aside from the few times he attended church in Oxford and occasionally visiting home, Mark spent six years away from the Lutheran church. "I'm glad I had that experience because I met all these other Christians from all these other churches and religions," stated Mark. For two years, he had a roommate at the Air Force Academy who was a devout Roman Catholic, and they had a classmate who was Jewish. While in Oxford, Mark and a group of other people formed an ecumenical Christian group. In the group was a Catholic priest from the Netherlands as well as an Anglican who had escaped Idi Amin's reign in Uganda. "That was really good to meet Christians from around the world," said Mark.

While in the Air Force, Mark met his late wife, Jocelyn, and they married in September 1980. Together, they have six children - three boys and three girls - as well as 10 grandchildren. Most of their children live within 5 miles of Mark's home in Landisville.

In 1983, Mark resigned from the Air Force and enrolled at Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary. He was ordained on All Saints' Day in 1987. At the start of his ministry, Mark served in congregations in Maryland and Pennsylvania for 12 years. However, for the past 21 years, Mark hadn't served in a congregation. Rather, he was the general secretary of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) and, prior to that, the director for Lutheran renewing and confessing movements in the NALC.

When discussing his new role at Reformation Lutheran Church, Mark refers to himself as the extended interim pastor since he is close to retirement. As pastor, Mark plans to focus on discipleship, which is central to most Lutheran churches. "We should be discipling each other by getting deeper into God's Word, understanding it better, and becoming better, more faithful followers of Jesus," stated Mark.

To learn more about Reformation Lutheran Church, visit http://www.reformation-nalc.org.