Dear Grace Family,

Since we announced the news of Pastor Jason’s impending retirement, we have been prayerful about who God would send among us as our new Senior Pastor. The Governing Council is pleased to share with you that our Bishop intends to appoint Rev. Mark Porterfield to serve in that role. Pastor Mark’s first Sunday with us will be July 7, 2019.

Pastor Mark offers us this word: “I am blessed and excited to come to Grace UMC. I look forward to many years of fruitful ministry together as we grow deeper in our faith and share our faith with more and more of God’s people. Our Bishop’s recent book, the updated ‘Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations,’ proclaims that a healthy congregation has a balance between ‘come and see’ and ‘go and do.’ I am encouraged to know that Grace UMC has a desire for greater movement outward into the community. As a pastor, I prayerfully think and plan for the long term. I ask the question often: ‘Are we doing the things today that will get us to where God is calling us?’ John 10:10 is a theme verse for me in ministry: ‘Jesus came that we might have life and have it in abundance.’ That abundance comes as we grow more and more into what God created us to be, through Jesus Christ.”

Please be in prayer for Pastor Mark, Pastor Jason, their families, and the Grace UMC community during this season of transition.

Grace and Peace,
Nick Cecava
Governing Council Chair

About Pastor Mark
Pastor Mark was born in Victoria, TX and baptized at FUMC Victoria. His family moved to Corpus Christi in the early 60’s, where he was confirmed at FUMC Corpus Christi and, years later, was recommended as a candidate for ordained ministry. Pastor Mark graduated from UT Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and worked briefly as an engineer for the Texas Highway Department before attending Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He began his pastoral ministry as an associate at Westlake UMC (3), followed by Manchaca UMC (3). He served as the Senior Pastor of Buda UMC (14), FUMC Portland (5) Port Lavaca UMC (3), and most recently Canyon Lake UMC (4).

Pastor Mark is married to the former Margot Gonzales. Margot was born and raised in San Antonio. She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from UTSA and worked in that field until their second child was born. While in the Buda area, Margot worked for the local paper. While the family lived in Port Lavaca, Margot returned to the Human Resources field working for a non-profit organization called Mid-Coast Family Services. She most recently cared for her mother and stepfather until their deaths this past year.

The Porterfields have two daughters: The eldest, Maxwell, is 27 and has a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance. She resides in New York City and does live musical theater (www.maxwellporterfield.com). The youngest, Magdalene, is 24 and has a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology. She is a medical speech pathologist specializing in head and neck cancer at an ENT clinic in Fort Worth.