 BIOHi! I'm Pastor Mark Sell.
I was born in Detroit, Michigan (1958) to Ed and
Eleanor (Moldenhauer) Sell. Both are now in eternity and both
died of cancer. I have one brother, Mel - yes, "Mel
Sell," that's his full name. Mel and his wife Allison live in
Clinton Twp., MI.
My entire education was in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, grammar through graduate work. I'm proud of my "blue collar" parents, whose priority was to put me and my brother through the Lutheran school system. They raised both of us to be faithful Lutherans. I'm very thankful for all of my
Lutheran teachers. As a matter of fact, I'm a pastor today because
of my Lutheran teachers, who had their hands full with
me.
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Interests
Detroit Red Wings; University of Michigan football; reading and writing about culture, theology; biking; my
kids activities; computer stuff;
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 Family  My wife,
Donna (Massey of
South Whitley, IN.), and I have been married for 21
years and
have two children, Madison (15) and Parker (11). It has been a great
marriage and we
are having a
 blast
raising our children. We lived in St. George,
Utah: Mt. Clemens, MI., and
we current currenly live in Ballwin, MO (West suburb of St.
Louis). |
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Service in the
Ministry
Trinity Lutheran, St.
George, Utah - As the sole pastor, my tenure at Trinty proved
to be the most educational times of my life. The Lord taught me how
to be a pastor with the help of my circuit (Utah was one circuit)
pastors and the congregation. Especially influential to me
was Pastor
Dave Fischer, my mentor. He taught
me how to love my parishioners as a pastor. I learned
more than I ever intended to learn about The Church of Jesus
Christ, Latter Day Saints (Mormonism). While at Trinity, the congregation opened a
one room Lutheran grade school.
St. Luke Lutheran,
Clinton Twp., MI - The role
of Sr. Pastor at St. Luke allowed me to use the administrative
skills I learned from my previous business experience as a manager
for HoneyBaked Ham Co. Once
again, I was privilaged to have a full grade school to serve as
well. While at St. Luke, thanks to the lay-leadership, we
were able to establish a balanced budget and renew some old
friendships from my early school days.
Concordia Publsihing House - For three years, I served as the Sr. Editor
of Academic, Professional, and Consumer Books. My time at CPH
was an opportunity to put my academic skills to work along with my
pastoral and administrative experience. What amazed me the most was
how complicated and how much work goes into publishing a book of
high quality. Publishing a book depends on 100's of
people.
Friends of
Mercy - Since 2005, I've been
working with and for Friends of Mercy. This call allowed me to get
back to working with the local congregation and serve the members
of our synod. Although most of what I do is fund development,
it is a vocation that allows me to serve in both the mercy of
body and soul.
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Education
Mt. Calvary Lutheran School,
Detroit
Bethany Lutheran School,
Detroit (1972 graduate)
Lutheran High East, Harper
Woods (1976 graduate)
Concordia College (now University), Ann Arbor, MI
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN (88 M.Div; Stm., 92)
Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis, MO (Thd. coursework complete and tests - abd!
Hermeneutics)
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