Mark Lawrence grew up in Greenville, Pennsylvania, a rural town just north of Pittsburgh. His family operated a 400-acre dairy farm. It was while working with the cattle, crops of the field, woodlands and all the creatures of the forest that he gained an appreciation for the creation God has prepared for us.

He was raised Roman Catholic but left that faith in his early twenties for a small nondenominational church. It was in that church he developed a love for studying the Bible.

He moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1993 and has operated a custom screen printing and embroidery business with his wife Sally since that time.

Today, he is a United Methodist pastor and serves at Mt. Vernon and St. Paul’s United Methodist Churches in Caroline county, Virginia. He is in the eighth year serving in that position.

His life’s scripture is Philippians 3:7-8:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (ESV)