7 Questions with Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell is Lead Pastor at Central Peninsula Church, a thriving multi-campus church in the Bay Area where he's served for 30 years. Mark also serves as the chaplain to the San Francisco Giants and is the author of Ten: How the Commandments Set Us Free, Portrait of Integrity: The Life of Ray C. Stedman, The Power of His Presence, and Mark and I both contributed to Sermon Preparation.Mark is a friend and mentor of mine, and my former boss. Mark hired me at age 27 to work under him as a pastor, giving me friendship, training, and experience that equipped me to do what I do now. Our relationship began with Mark taking me to Cambodia for two weeks to help him teach a course on preaching to Cambodian pastors, and our relationship continues now with regular visits and conversations about life, marriage, parenting, pastoring, preaching, and carving out a meaningful life in the bustling Bay Area.
1. The Bay Area is a dynamic place to live and work. What do you find most exciting about being a pastor and leader in the Bay Area?
Well, in some ways this is a difficult question for me to answer because I’ve really never lived anywhere else, except for a year and a half in Denver during seminary. I am a product of the Bay Area and I love it here. I love the diversity. I love the culture of innovation. I love that there is virtually no cultural Christianity. I love the fact that the Warriors, Sharks, and Giants are all having great success. I wish I could add the 49ers to that list, but maybe that will happen soon!
2. The Bay Area is also a challenging place to live and work. What do you find most difficult about being a pastor and leader in the Bay Area?
The biggest challenges revolve around the cost of living, the fast pace of life, the cultural values of consumerism, materialism and intellectualism that often keep people from valuing the Gospel, the lack of community that people often feel and experience here.
3. You’ve dedicated a lot of your life to preaching God’s Word, and to studying preaching. What are some of the key ingredients that make for a good sermon?
I believe a good sermon should be an exposition of a biblical text with a clear main idea. It should reveal aspects of our own depravity and have a clear vision of God and the Gospel. It should be relevant and interesting. It should be delivered with passion and authenticity. Before I preach it to others I must preach it to myself.
4. Headlines seem to be full of pastors with marriages that are falling apart. Your marriage isn’t, I’ve seen you and Lynn enjoy a healthy, vibrant marriage for a long time. What have been some of the influences, priorities, or convictions that have helped shape your marriage?
Lynn and I have been married for 38 years. We were just 21 when we got married and too young and immature to know what we were getting into. But we both had a deep sense of God’s hand upon us and we knew we were entering a lifelong covenant. There was no going back. We have always placed a high value on spending time together, sharing what’s on our heart, working out our differences. We have tried to practice mutual submission as seen in Ephesians 5:21. We have always valued friendships with others and believe being part of a church community enhances our marriage. We have always wanted to do team ministry, but often we have each kind of served in different capacities in the church. But right now we are experiencing some sweetness in serving together as chaplains of the Giants.
5. How are you growing as a leader as a result of being the chaplain for the San Francisco Giants?
Last year was my first year serving as chaplain. I have served as pastor of my church for 30 years and now all of a sudden I'm a rookie again. I have to depend on God in new ways. As a pastor, everyone knows me and wants a piece of me, but as Chaplain the roles are reversed. I am serving people who are guarded and careful about who they let in. It has been a humbling experience, but also very rewarding. The Giants are a class organization and I have tremendous support from the General Manager, Bobby Evans, who is a dear believer.
6. Many pastors don’t have hobbies, their life is unhealthfully consumed by ministry. What are some of your hobbies, things you love to do outside of church ministry?
I like to read — not just Christian books but all kinds of fiction and non fiction. Lynn and I love to travel. I have had the privilege of serving in Cambodia, the Philippines. Niger, Cameroon, Rwanda, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guam, Russia, Albania, Hungry and Romania. I love to stay active. I’ve run a marathon. Right now I enjoy road biking, swimming and jogging. I love college football. My son and son-in-law are both football coaches at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend and I am an avid fan. Lynn and I also have three grandchildren with two more on the way and we love spending time with them.
7. If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice when you were in your early 20s and starting out in ministry, what would that be?
Embrace who God has made you to be. I don’t mean that in a humanistic way, but in the sense of really hearing God’s voice and following his calling rather than what the Christian culture around me said was valuable. When I was young I had a ton of ambition and I had an idea in my head of what a successful pastor should look like. At times, I think that kept me from focusing on the things that I was really called to.