Pastor Mark Mavar
Pastor of Senior Citizens
I grew up in a Catholic home and attended services pretty regularly. As a Catholic, I believed in God and heaven, and never really considered myself a bad person. After all, I never killed anybody. So I thought that since my good outweighed my bad, I would go to heaven after I died. As I grew, I began looking for the peace and joy that would make me content. I attained a good job and purchased whatever I wanted that I thought would make me happy. However, there was still a void in my life that no material thing or relationship could fill. In the winter of 1981, a friend shared with me the Good News that God loves me and sent his Son to die for me, taking upon himself the penalty and punishment for my sin and offering me complete forgiveness and eternal life by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world. That night I repented of my sin and asked God to save me, and He did. “For whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Mark grew up in the Collinwood area of Cleveland and graduated from Collinwood High School. He moved to Euclid after marrying Carol in 1984, then Huntsburg in Geauga County. Mark worked as a Firefighter/Paramedic before going to Panama in 2002, serving as a missionary church planter until 2021.
Mark attended Cuyahoga Community College and later completed the certificate program from Great Lakes Bible Institute. He received his BA in Bible and MA in Bible Pedagogy from Ebenezer Bible Institute and Seminary Monterey Mexico.
Mark and Carol returned to Ohio in 2021 after transitioning the ministry of La Iglesia de La Gracia de Valle Dorado to a prepared, ordained, and commissioned national pastor. Pastor Mark oversees the Maturity Matters group at Grace Church of Mentor, and Carol is active in teaching and discipling women. They have 4 grown children – Luke, Caleb, Hannah, and Hope – who have given them 11 grandchildren (and counting).