Phone: 301-926-8688 ext. 14

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A Little Bit of Background:

Pastor Derby was born in Wilmington, Delaware.  He graduated from the University of Delaware (Go Blue Hens!) and received his pastoral training from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachussetts  Mark and his wife, Joyce have been married for 35 years.   They have three sons; Joshua, Aaron and Jonathan.  They are proud grandparents of Katherine Joy, who is the daughter of Joshua and Christine.

Pastor Derby has enjoyed church ministry since he first served as a youth pastor at Glen Burnie United Methodist Church.  Following seminary, he served five years as pastor of Bowie United Methodist Church.  From 1981-1995 he served as pastor of Montgomery United Methodist Church in Damascus.  He also served Faith United Methodist Church in Rockville for five years before becoming a district superintendent.  As a superintendent, he has served both the Baltimore-Harford District and the Washington West District.  He became the senior pastor of Grace UMC in 2006.

When asked “Why did you become a pastor?” Pastor Derby replied,  “When I made a life commitment to Jesus Christ, I was overwhelmed by God’s grace.  I started leading Bible studies on campus and found that I liked discipling others.  God has given me a deep love for nurturing persons in their faith and a passion for helping the church demonstrate to the world the wisdom of God and share with the world the unsearchable riches of Christ.” 

Things that Pastor Derby likes best about being a pastor…

• one-to-one conversations and leading small groups that focus on spiritual growth

• I always enjoy teaching

• In more recent years, he has found great joy in shaping the vision of churches so that we aspire to become mature in our faith and faithful in our ministry to the community and world around us

One of Mark’s lesser known skills is his ability to lay bricks and block and finish concrete!  Over the years these skills have been useful in helping parishioners with projects and especially on mission trips or work camps when projects required masonry or concrete.  If he wasn’t a pastor, he would own a small construction company and rehabilitate houses to provide affordable housing.