Spotlight Church was planted in 2012 as a new congregation of the Central Canada District of The Wesleyan Church Founding Pastor, Rev Aaron Birtch served until February 2017. In May 2017, Rev Mark Parker moved to Stratford to become the Lead Pastor.
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Mark felt God call him to a life of ministry when he was 18 years old. He went to Kingswood University in Sussex, New Brunswick where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. Mark has served as lead pastor of various churches for over 26 years, including one he planted in Kemptville, Ontario. Since 2010, Mark has served as the Director of Church Planting for the Central Canada District of The Wesleyan Church. He continues to serve in this role as well as being the pastor of Spotlight Church since 2017. Mark is Chairman of the Board of Directors for World Hope International (Canada) and serves on occasion as an adjunct professor for Kingswood University. He is a certified coach and has a life long commitment to learning and to leading others to serve with excellence.
Mark has been married to his wife, Helen, for 30 years and together they have had the joy of raising three great children – two sons and a daughter. The family grew with the addition of a daughter-in-law, and now Mark and Helen are enjoying the thrill of being Grammy and Grampy!
Pastor Andrew has been serving at Spotlight Church since April of 2020. As his junior hockey career ended in his early 20's, God began directing Andrew's path towards full-time vocational ministry. In 2016, he began studying to become a pastor at Kingswood University and graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 2020. At Spotlight, Andrew's primary role is to give leadership to Spotlight Church's young adult community, as well as to preach occasionally.Andrew married his wife Lyndsay in 2015, and together they have two children Isaiah (2018) and Eloise (2019). In addition to his position at Spotlight, Andrew also works as a construction worker. In his spare time he enjoys reading and listening to a good podcast.