Announcing the Call of Rev. Mark Plunkett

Spring Branch Presbyterian Church in Houston Texas is excited to announce the Call of Reverend Mark Plunkett as CoPastor.   “I have always felt a bond of love and affection to Spring Branch Pres.  I am blessed and extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to come “home” and serve my former home church,” said Mark.

Mark had a long career in teaching and education in the highly regarded Spring Branch ISD before his call to ministry, and served previously on the Board of Directors of Spring Branch Presbyterian Academy, and as Interim Director of Christian Education and Children’s Ministries for Spring Presbyterian Church.  Spring Branch Pres is only his second call, after spending 12 years as Senior Pastor at Heritage Presbyterian Church in Texas following his graduation from Princeton Theological Seminary.  Mark’s prior church service included as Clerk of Session and serving Ruling Elder before joining Spring Branch Pres as a member.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Texas, a Master of Education from University of Houston, and received his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, after beginning his call to ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  “Mark was a former member and leader in Spring Branch Pres, and we were privileged to support his call to ministry on scholarship when he attended Austin and Princeton”, said Elizabeth Powell, Clerk of Session.  “As we enter a growth mode, being able to call him home to bring his amazing gifts back to our Church and Academy, and help develop and mentor the next generation of pastors and church leaders is tremendously exciting.”

Spring Branch Pres Selects Vanderbloemen to lead Nationwide CoPastor Search

Spring Branch Presbyterian Church has launched a nationwide search with the Vanderbloemen search firm for a CoPastor.  Vanderbloemen is the leading search firm in the country dedicated to faith based and church searches.  Spring Branch Pres is excited to partner with Vanderbloemen on this role, and has selected Senior Consultant Jay Mitchell, a former Presbyterian minister, to lead its search. 

Details on the call, and interested candidates should apply here.

“We are calling a CoPastor for this role as Spring Branch Pres is planning to be a promote from with-in congregation committed to developing the next generation of pastors for ourselves and other churches going forward,” said Neal Dikeman, Chair of the Pastor Nominating Committee.  “We are looking forward to partnering with the leading reformed seminaries on this search with Vanderbloemen, as well as future internship and scholarship opportunities to support development of a next generation of pastors.  Hiring an executive search firm, and selecting Vanderbloemen, was a decision taken by our PNC, Session and Congregation after careful consideration of options, and in recognition that modern search processes are needed for congregations and pastors given the historic delays and challenges in conventional intra denominational searches.”   

Vanderbloemen was selected on the basis of over a decade of extensive experience with more than 2,500 successful faith based searches, its focus on finding cultural and missional fit with agile modern search processes, and the opportunity to partner with an experienced missional and church leader in Jay Mitchell to lead our process.

Churches, seminaries and denominational leaders interested in discussing our search and pastor development process, sharing data and resources and partnering with us going forward, are welcome to contact the PNC of Spring Branch Pres at pnc@springbranchpres.org.

Spring Branch Presbyterian Church is a 70 year old growing community church in the Memorial Villages of West Houston.  It is highly active missionally and giving in local missions, and traditionally anchored around its 50 year old highly regarded Spring Branch Presbyterian Academy.  The mission of Spring Branch Pres is Relationships Matter: God, One Another, World.  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  – Matthew 22:37-40

Vanderbloemen is Houston based, the nation’s largest and leading executive search firm for faith and church search, with over 2,500 successful calls, and was an early leader in the development of executive search for church leadership, founded by former Presbyterian minister William Vanderbloemen.  Vanderbloemen serves a wide range of denominations and organizations and is the only Christian Executive Search Firm with membership in the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).  For information on Vanderbloemen services, contact Ivette Naron at Ivette@vanderbloemen.com.