Delegate Reports
Pastor Mark Edward Williams
A Brief Biography in Ministry
In 2003, the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference elected Mark Edward Williams to be first alternate clergy delegate to General Conference. Mark is serving in his fifth year as pastor of Woodland Park United Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington. He served three years prior to that as Associate Pastor of Vancouver First United Methodist Church.
At age 34, Mark is a lifelong United Methodist. His call to ministry was nurtured and endorsed as a young adult by his home church in Longview, Washington. He graduated with honors from Kentucky Wesleyan College and Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Mark has worked extensively in youth ministry, leading many retreats, workshops and classes on various topics with youth and youth workers. He served as dean of Ocean Park Senior High Camps for three years, and he was the keynote speaker at the Seattle District Youth Retreat in the Spring of 2004.
In addition, Mark has served in several positions of leadership and servanthood in the life of the Pacific Northwest Conference. For four years he has been a clergy volunteer for Strength for the Journey, a conference sponsored retreat for people living with AIDS. Mark was elected by the Annual Conference to be a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry and co-chairperson of the Division of Deacons. He has served on several other conference and district committees and task groups.
In June of 2001, Mark came out from the podium of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, announcing, "I am as much a practicing gay man as I am a practicing United Methodist." He was initially denied his appointment as a clergyperson in good standing, though the congregation of Woodland Park fought to retain him under employment while the case was being resolved. Four months after coming out, the Judicial Council of the denomination ruled that pastors who identify themselves openly as practicing gay persons must remain under appointment until they have been determined to be in violation of church law by a judicial complaint process. In May, 2002, the judicial complaint brought against Mark by Bishop Galvan was dismissed by the Committee on Investigation. That decision was not appealed, and Mark has since continued to serve the Woodland Park congregation as a pastor in good standing.
Read Why I am a United Methodist by Rev. Mark E. Williams
Copyright 2004 by Mark Williams. All rights reserved.