Last month, the Marion Baptist Church welcomed their new pastor, Mark Downing.
And with him, they welcomed his wife, Elizabeth, and their 4-month-old son, Robert, to the church community.
A match made in heaven, per se.
And like the church community itself, the Downing family couldn’t be more excited about their new adventure. Growing up in Lake City, Mark had been through Marion, but never really got to know the town. But after a month or so of being welcomed by the community, he and his family are starting to feel right at home.
We caught up with Mark recently, and we learned a little bit about his faith, his family, and his story. We learned that Mark Downing is certainly more than just another face in the crowd.
Marion Press: Where were you born and raised?
Mark: I was born in Grayling. I’m kind of a little bit from everywhere, but I consider northern Michigan my home. I spent the first half of my life in Lake City, and spent the other half of my life in the Jackson area.
MP: What kept you busy growing up?
Mark: Mostly school, to be honest. I grew up in a big family. I have three sisters; I’m the eldest, and the only boy. It was really just school, and generally being a kid. I’m not a thrill-seeker by any means, so I didn’t do anything crazy!
MP: Was faith always a big part of your life?
Mark: Our Christianity, really, came from my great-grandmother. She’s who led my dad to come to know the Lord. The first thing that I can probably remember is being in church. As we grew up in Lake City, we grew up right on M-66 in this big old farmhouse, literally right next door to this old country church.
The first thing I can remember is church. I accepted Christ as my Lord and personal savior in August of 2013. I felt called to preach the following February, in 2014.
MP: Tell us a little bit about your road to becoming a pastor.
Mark: In high school, I consulted with my youth pastor and my pastor, and I asked, “If God’s called me to preach, like you guys, what should I do?” And they recommended that I attended bible college, and so that’s what I decided to do.
I have a partial education from a college that had to close their doors, but I graduated just this last year from Harvest Baptist Bible College of Ft. Dodge, Iowa.
MP: You recently started as pastor at the Marion Baptist Church. When did you start, and how has the reception been thus far?
Mark: So we started the candidate process back in January. They asked us to come up, and asked me to preach for them – so they could get an idea of who I was as a preacher. We had been back and forth through there since, and they voted me in in the middle of April. We officially took over the first week on May.
They’re definitely loving. It seems to be a loosely used term, but they’re definitely a loving people. Just within the month that we’ve been there, they’ve gone more than above and beyond to make sure that me and my wife [Elizabeth] feel loved and welcomed. An example: We just gave birth to our son, Robert; my wife gave birth back in January. And she just had to have gallbladder surgery about a week or two ago. And they just flooded us with cards, and “Do you need anything?” They’ve just done their utmost best to make sure we feel loved and welcomed.
MP: Tell us a little bit about the Marion Baptist Church. What could someone expect if they were to attend a service.
Mark: First and foremost, our service times: Sunday school is at 9:45. That’s a much more laid-back type of a service. Right now, we’re working through a workbook written by another pastor. So everybody gets their own workbook and we walk through it as a class. It’s a more laid-back setting, where we’re teaching certain principles. Sunday mornings is 11 o’clock, and we try our best to be done by noon. That’s where we take time to be a little more evangelical. We preach from the King James Bible, and we sing from the hymnal. Sunday night service is at 6, and right now we’re teaching from the parables. It’s a more teaching, encouraging, uplifting service, while still preaching from the bible. It’s kind of a mixture of Sunday school and Sunday mornings. We have Wednesday night prayer meeting at 6 o’clock. We take a good 15-20 minutes to take prayer requests from the church. Then I usually get 30 minutes to teach on something, and then we take a good 30 to 40 minutes just to pray, over those prayer requests and things of that nature.
MP: What keeps you busy when you’re not preaching? Any hobbies or interests?
Mark: I’m currently trying to find a part-time job. I do work on my off time, and on top of that, I have my wife and we have our newborn – that tends to keep us pretty busy! I do like to golf – that’s about as athletic as I get, to be honest with you. And like any true blooded northern Michigander, I like to whitetail deer hunt when I can. That’s the law, if you’re going to be a northern Michigander, you have to whitetail deer hunt!
I guess it sounds kind of simple, or silly, but people are my hobby. I’ve always been a very sensitive person my whole life, for whatever reason, and I just love people. I’ve been in customer service and retail since I was 16, and that gives you a different approach and respect for people. If you want to learn patience, work in retail. Customer service and retail gives you a different respect for people, and you learn to love them no matter what it is they’re going through.
MP: What do you enjoy the most about living in northern Michigan?
Mark: Really just the majesty of it all. I do like nature: One, it gives me the opportunity to see God’s creation firsthand. And there’s nothing like northern Michigan to see that. Especially during the fall, when the leaves change color. If you’re up near Cadillac/Manistee area and you start getting into those hills up there, that’s just breathtaking in its own right. I had the privilege of being trapped in Iowa for two years, and that gives you an appreciation for trees!
And obviously, God’s called me to northern Michigan too, but besides that it’s almost difficult to explain the beauty that’s up here.
MP: What’s the best advice that you’ve been given?
Mark: I guess that leads a lot into my bible college journey. When a typical person pursues a degree in biblical theology, it’s a four-year degree. You have to get a bachelor’s degree. I was in bible college for 6 years, and [at one point] I decided to take my associate’s degree and run. But through that, somebody took their time to very forcibly tell me, “Don’t quit.” And that sounds like really simple advice, but that’s what’s gotten me through these last 6 years of bible college, just telling myself, “Don’t quit.” And there’s a lot to that. There are people that look to me – especially now – and I can’t quit on them. That’s something that’s gotten me through the bible college era of things.
MP: Who have been your role models?
Mark: Firstly, my great grandparents: My great grandmother, Laura Downing, was quite possibly the largest role model as far as faith goes, that my family really had. She’s a lot of the reason that I became a Christian, and chose to pursue a biblical career. My great grandfather, his name was Robert as well. We have three generations of Robert – my great grandfather, my father, and my son. He started several churches in the metro Detroit area, and I get a lot of inspiration through him. And my parents, I definitely couldn’t have done any of this without them – it would’ve been 10 times harder if they didn’t approve. There’s my pastor, Rich Zawdski, and he was my pastor for 10 or 11 years. He’s a good reason why I’m here. And of course, my wife, she’s the strong one, that’s for sure.