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Staff - Mark Palmer

1. Date, Place of Birth:
   July 29, 1961 in Athens, Georgia at Athens Regional Medical Center long before it was ARMC. And yes, that does make me a native born citizen of the Bulldawg Nation.
   
2. Places (states) lived in:
   Never lived anywhere but the Athens area--why live anywhere else? I do love to travel and have traveled extensively around the U.S. over the last 30 years, but I always come back home to Athens. By the way, if you are new to the area and need directions to anywhere or where to find the best restaurants in town, just give me a call.
   
3. Education:
   Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Emmanuel College in 1983. After 26 years in ministry I am back in school working on a M.Div. at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary at the Atlanta campus. Of course with the new church start just getting up and running, seminary is on the back burner for now.
   
4. Salvation Experience:
   Some of my earliest memories involve church since both my grandfathers were pastors and my family and I attended church every week. Growing up in a church culture, I heard the gospel over and over and over. Then one summer evening when I was ten, I heard my Dad's dad preach at a Sunday worship service and everything made sense to me. I understood that God not only created me and loved me but also wanted to have a personal relationship with me. Later that night at home I talked with my mom before bedtime, prayed, and received God's gift of eternal life. I was later baptized at our home church, Welcome Avenue - actually, I was baptized at an outdoor worship service in the lake behind the church.
   
5. Work/Ministry experiences:
   My first paid job was as a mason's helper during the summer when I was 12. I mixed mortar by hand and carried brick all day long. I was too young to know any better. My boss was my dad who did home building and remodeling, and we were bricking a house for my aunt and uncle. By the end of that summer my brother and I had saved enough to buy a color tv, our first! I worked with my dad and helped a little in a couple of other family businesses, a clothing store and a restaurant, during high school and college. In my early years of ministry I worked with my dad full-time in his construction business while also serving as a pastor. I also traveled and played with a small band in churches and concert halls around the country for several years starting when I was 15 years old. In ministry I have served as a children's pastor, a youth pastor, a worship leader, an education and missions pastor, and as a senior pastor.
   
6. Favorite Things about Life Church:
   I love the atmosphere of joy and celebration in our worship, the excitement of being a part of something new God is doing in Athens, the genuine love and fellowship of the people, and the eagerness to welcome new people into God's family at Life Church. The best thing of all is the freedom to be real with God and real with each other.
   
7. Family Members:
   My beautiful wife, Rhonda--We were married in 1983 and have shared a lot of life together. God has shown me what faithfulness is through my wife. Rhonda is also our family clown without even trying and she never, ever meets a stranger. Our daughter,Brittany--She was born in 1986 and is sweet and pretty beyond the legal limit. Brittany is a nursing student in the RN program at Athens Technical College. I should also mention her fiancé, Josh, who is completing a business degree at Piedmont College. Our son, Jared--He was born in 1989 and is already bigger and smarter than his Dad and much cooler. Jared is a rising high school senior homeschooling and working in general aviation. He has his private pilot license and his certificate. He is also working on a three year apprenticeship as an airframe and power plant aviation mechanic--he builds planes. The most sane member of our family is Buddy, our Labrador Retriever, who eats when he wants, rests when he is tired, swims in the creek in all weather, chases squirrels, deer, and cats as a vocation, and is always happy to see his family come home.
   
8. Hobbies, favorite books, favorite music:
   Golf--playing golf, reading about golf history and architecture, buying and selling golf clubs on ebay, replaying my last round or a favorite round in my head. I am obsessed but manage to control my habit to about once a week. I love traveling and the outdoors. I also love good food and good coffee. Rhonda and I just love to hang out in the coffeehouses around town, to make new friends, to enjoy new kinds of food, and to see movies at the dollar theater--all perfect reasons to live in Athens. When we are not in Athens, we have usually escaped to the Asheville, NC area where you will find Rhonda bargain shopping while I am playing golf during the day.
   
   I am a real geek when it comes to learning and reading, another of my obsessions. I usually read a book a week. Sometimes it is ministry related but at other times I read history, military history, technology, biography, humor, and the classics. My favorite books and authors are too numerous to mention. The one book outside of the Bible that I think everyone should read is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Right now I have been spending a lot of time reading in the book of Acts in the New Testament. Some of my favorite books of the Bible are Romans, John, Genesis, and Isaiah. Music is in my blood. I can't whistle, but I do go around humming or singing just about 24/7. I play my music too loud and too much according to my family. My first instrument was the trumpet when I was 10. Then I started singing, playing the piano, and composing. I studied voice and music theory in college along with a bunch of music majors who could never quite figure out why anyone would take theory that didn't have to, but I loved it. There is very little music that I cannot appreciate and I actually like most of it - I listen to contemporary christian, old gospel, jazz, classical, southern rock, bluegrass, country, salsa, blues, r&b, soul and a lot of stuff that I can't classify.
   
9. Secret Ambition:
   I would love to travel to the British Isles for an entire summer and play the courses in Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland. I would love to see the world with my wife without joining the Navy--especially Greece and Italy. I would love to go to the moon or maybe some other short trip in space. I would like to hike the Appalachian Trail, all the way.
   
   More than any of that, I want to experience and contribute to a sprirtual awakening in Athens that will be of historic proportions and will significantly reduce lostness and impact our culture until Jesus comes again!