 |
 |
  |
View Full StaffOUR PASTOR
The Rev. Dr. Mark E. Yurs has been Salem's pastor since 1991. He is the congregation's longest serving pastor in its history.
Mark relishes his role as a teaching minister. He specializes in sermons that use the Bible to shed light on life today. Recently, from Advent to Easter, he led us through the Gospel According to John, and he followed that with a course of sermons from the Letter to the Galatians, focusing on what it means to grow in Christ. Every one of his sermons strives to identify how God is active in our world and in our lives here and now. When we were concerned about our nation's economy, Mark's brief sermon series, "People Who Lost: Bible Biographies of People in Lean Times," helped us as we questioned God's presence and will today.
Mark tries to be an attentive and sensitive pastor as well as an effective teacher. He understands what an old-time preacher meant when he said, "In every pew there is at least one broken heart." Mark strives to be caring toward that broken heart, and open to and accepting of all who look to Christ for hope, help, and courage.
All this speaks of Mark's serious side, but you really understand him only when you know his commitment to a joy-filled ministry. He believes that Jesus was a very funny man, and he too uplifts what is light-hearted about the Christian faith so persons can enter into the joy of the Lord.
Mark has taught Preaching and Worship on the seminary level, and has written extensively in the fields of preaching and ministry. He is the author of three books (see below), numerous articles, and is a contributing author to a number of other books, including Feasting on the Word, a new commentary series published by Westminster John Knox Press.
He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree from Carroll College, Waukesha, WI, and both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, Dubuque, IA. He was ordained in 1982 and served St. John's United Church of Christ, Belvidere, IL, for nine years prior to coming to Verona. In 2001, Dubuque Seminary awarded him its distinguished alumni award, the Herbert E. Manning Award for Excellence in Pastoral Ministry.
Mark is married to Sherrol, and they have three children, all in graduate school.
Books by Mark E. Yurs:
Answers to Real Problems:
Harry Emerson Fosdick Speaks to Our Time
(Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2008)
Available on www.amazon.com
Being A First Church:
What a Pastor's First Congregation Should Know
(Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2003)
Available on www.amazon.com
Meeting God Again
(Lima, OH: Express Press, 2000)
Available through the church
View Full Staff
|
MISSION STATEMENT: We witness to the word and work of Jesus that all people may know the welcome of God, worship with joy, grow as disciples, live as servants, and share the strength of Christian fellowship all for the glory of God. |
|
©2010 Salem Church of Verona — All Rights Reserved — Web Development by Zumavi Design