Growing up as a “preacher’s kid”, a son of Dakotas Conference elder Glenn Phillips, Mark Phillips often heard well-meaning folks ask him if he was going to be a pastor, too. Those messages, however well-intended, didn’t reach Mark’s heartstrings during his school and undergraduate years.

“I always just kind of blew those off,” Mark recalled, “because, it was people who were saying what they were ‘supposed to say,’ so I never gave it much real thought.”

Rev. Mark Phillips. Photo by jlynn studios.

Pastor Mark went to Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa, and although he wasn’t intending to be a pastor, he was still intending to be involved in the church. “My faith was an important part of who I was,” he remembers. But God didn’t give up on Mark’s potential for ministry, and kept on whispering to him throughout his higher education years.

“In my second semester at Westmar, I took a course in New Testament from Dr. Dwight Vogel. At the end of the course, I took the final, and turned in my little blue final booklet, and headed toward the door. Professor Vogel got up from his desk and followed me out of the classroom. I was thinking, ‘This is a little strange, because he hadn’t done this for anyone ahead of me.’ So, when I got out into the hallway, he stopped me and said, ‘Mark, I think you have the gifts and races to be a pastor.’ And then, he just turned around and walked away. He just hung that our there and left!”

For Mark, that was the first time anyone had said that to him, who had no self-interest in saying it. Mark said he was kind of stunned, because it wasn’t someone he perceived as being polite, or saying it in front of his dad.

“So, I started thinking, and made some really fast decisions at that time. I had already intended to stay in LeMars, Iowa for the summer working, and so I signed up for two-week ethics class by this same professor, Dr. Vogel. I took that class, and after eventually graduating from Westmar, ended up at seminary, the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO), but even at that point in time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a pastor. In my plan to work as a lay person in the church, doing youth ministry, or whatever, I figured seminary was important.”

Toward the end of that first year of seminary, Mark was trying to find a ‘field placement’ at any church in that area near Delaware, Ohio, holding out hope for something in youth ministry.

Rev. Mark Phillips with some sermon assistance in the pulpit.

Being ready to say “Yes”

“I never found anything that was a fit, so I thought I’d wait until the next year, since most students did that during their second year anyway. Then, a pastor from nearby Rum Creek UMC asked if I could preach for her on Mother’s Day. I said, ‘OK, I can do that.’”

Within a week, the district superintendent for that area called Mark and said, “I don’t really have anybody to serve this church, and they really liked you last week, so would you consider serving them as a student pastor?”

When God calls, we are to be eager to answer. When a district superintendent calls, perhaps we are ‘less inclined.’ Mark did answer, though, and stayed to serve the Rum Creek UMC for three years, while earning a second degree from MTSO. Mark recalls that congregation fondly, and the impact they had on his ministry journey. “That congregation loved me and molded me into becoming a pastor,” he recalled.

Thanks to that Ohio pastor and DS and others along the way, Mark was literally called– phone-called, to the ministry. In many pastors’ called stories there are parishioners, clergy, friends, camp counselors, people from almost any walk of life and faith, who have said the right words at the right time, maybe even feeling a nudge from the Holy Spirit to overcome their inhibitions. Mark Phillips knows that God spoke to him through those people, reaching out for him to share the gifts he’d been given.

“It was one of those things where God started out with the still, small voice, and went on and on until he got to the 2x4,” Pastor Mark joked, “And at that point in time my choice was clear.”

Mark eventually earned his Master of Divinity degree there in Delaware, Ohio, and then continued at MTSO, becoming the first student to earn a Master of Liturgical Arts there.

He worked for Student Housing at the seminary and made lots of connections across the East- and West Ohio Conferences, but he returned to the Dakotas in 1986, because of timing and the size of our conference. He was in conversation with Minnesota, Iowa, and Central Illinois Conferences, but since he was first offered a position as associate pastor in the Dakotas, he committed and moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota. His first appointment in the Dakotas was at Aberdeen First UMC, serving under Rev. Eldon Reich in what would be the first year at that church for both of them.

Wakonda-Irene-Viborg UMC churches.

Mark recalled a phrase he and Eldon shared as they learned the ropes at Aberdeen First UMC. “Wait ‘til next year,” he recalled. There were always new things going on, for which they didn’t have an immediate answer, so waiting was often the best option. After five formative years in Aberdeen, Mark and Ginger moved to serve the Wakonda, Irene, and Viborg, South Dakota charge, where they served for four years.

In that charge, Mark learned a lesson about pastoral longevity at a church, and how important it is for the pastor and the congregation. There had been lots of turnover in that charge, so the four years that they served were important for building trust and rapport with the congregation, and important for Mark and Ginger in their ministry.

“I had a lot of conversations with district superintendents and bishops who were saying, ‘That much turnover can be really hard on churches, because they don’t want to connect with the new pastor– you’ll soon be gone.’ It’s not only hard on churches, it’s hard on pastors, too, because they won’t invest in you until they’ve known you awhile. Most of the previous appointments were about two years,” recalled Mark. “We had to convince them that we were there for the long haul.”

Mark and Ginger Phillips with former Lead Trinity UMC youth group members. Left to Right are: Philip Madsen, Ally Specht, Ginger Phillips, Caleb Percy, and Rev. Mark Phillips. Photo courtesy Ginger Phillips.

Rev. Phillips later served churches in the Mandan, North Dakota area for nine years, with a constantly changing constellation of churches, due to closures and merges.

“Change is hard, that’s very true,” Mark said, “Probably the biggest pain in the process, is the connection people have with the building, connecting them with their faith history. The hardest part of a merger, for many folks, is the possibility of each congregation losing their building.”

Eventually, they served another six years at Central UMC in Milbank, South Dakota, before moving on to Trinity UMC in Deadwood-Lead, South Dakota. Since 2017 they have served in their last ministry appointment to Murdo/Draper, in Murdo, South Dakota.

Lessons in Ministry

“One of the things that my dad told me,” Mark recalled, “was, ‘Being a pastor in a local church is the only occupation that exists where you have the privilege of being in relationship with  people at their most joyous moments of life, and their most difficult moments of life.’”

Rev. Glenn Phillips’ words ring true for Mark today, as he sees it in retrospect. “I would say, experiencing that privilege– both the times of blessing for people and the times of struggle for people – experiencing being trusted with that privilege has been the greatest blessing that I’ve had.”

Ginger and Mark Phillips are retiring to the Sioux Falls area and are building a new home there. “We’ll be within a driving distance to our son’s family in Watertown, and enjoying time with our granddaughter there. Otherwise, I’m hoping to do whatever doesn’t use my brain too much.”

Although officially retired, they plan to continue their lifelong ministry in different and new ways. Mark said, “I’m also interested in substitute teaching, and with my math minor and business/accounting minor, I might have something to offer there.” But as his ministry journey was not exactly how he imagined as a student, his retirement journey will likely be full of surprising twists and opportunities to minister in new ways. Congratulations, Rev. Mark Phillips, and shalom.