Mark Witas
Glendale,CA
Summary
Experienced storyteller, sought-after speaker, chaplain, administrator, pastor, and teacher who has brought hope and inspiration to thousands around North America and the world. A published author of multiple books and countless articles, a natural leader who loves collaborating with inspired team members to make the world better and more beautiful.
Overview
33
33
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Mission and Spiritual Care
Adventist Health System
Glendale, CA
01.2023 - Current
- Administrate chaplaincy and spiritual care program at Adventist Health Glendale.
- Work with civic and clergy leaders to provide spiritual and emotional care for their parishioners.
- Work with Foundation leadership to connect with community leaders.
- Work with the Administration to provide spiritual care and counseling for hospital employees.
- Provide written and spoken devotionals and prayers for all major hospital meetings and events.
- Plan spiritual programs for hospital employees and patients.
- Schedule and provide hospital chaplaincy 24/7 for patients and hospital employees.
Lead Pastor
Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Portland, Oregon
01.2019 - 12.2023
- Deliver weekly teachings that are relevant story filled lessons on how to do life well as a Christ follower.
- Organize and produce services, including weekly worship services, special programs and concerts.
- Plan and produced Sunny City, an annual community fair that partners with Adventist Health Portland, Portland Police Department, and Office Depot to provide school supplies and educational experiences for our city youth.
- Established a partnership with Cherry Park Elementary School. This partnership provides everything from school supplies, to apartment furniture for our migrant and underserved community. This partnership extends to large department stores and other retail outlets.
- Organize and oversee Toys for Cherry Park Elementary. We create a Christmas Shopping Experience for parents below the poverty line to choose new toys for their children who attend CPE.
- Created Suds and Duds, an annual event that partners our church, Kohls Department Stores and a local public school to provide a new suit or new dress and new grooming supplies to local 8th graders for special occasions.
- Implemented and organized a partnership with Portland Adventist Community Services in the Portland Metro area to deliver food to housebound people in food emergencies.
- Oversee and minister to a growing Congolese refugee community. Sunnyside church helps them with finding housing, employment, and a place to worship. We also help them with the citizenship process and provide them with essentials as they get established in the Portland Metro area.
- Initiated and installed a new video production system to upgrade Sunnyside’s ability to broadcast services, increasing our viewership from an average of 150 views to well over 1000. This is an ongoing project.
- Partner with Adventist Health Portland to increase safety and security of our parking lots and structures. We share a lot with the AHP and rely on each other to communicate and monitor for safety issues.
- Installed a 35 camera video feed of our premises and parking lots to bolster our security system.
- During COVID shutdowns, oversaw an interior makeover of our sanctuary, replacing carpets, paint, pew covers, lighting system and platform.
- We are currently updating our kitchen with commercial grade appliances.
- In partnership with Cherry Park Elementary, we solicited information about the financial well being of the families who attend the school. In response, Sunnyside paid the utility bills for 38 families.
- Currently, we are planning something called CL3AN. This is a new model of ministry that will invite un-churched Portlanders into a meaningful sober life, giving those who need it the tools to cope with addiction.
- Establishing a new paradigm, welcoming those from the LGTBQI+ community to worship, serve and participate with Sunnyside Church members.
Lead Pastor
Pacific Union College Church
Angwin, CA
07.2013 - 01.2019
- Created anticipation for upcoming events by publishing social media teasers and Constant Contact invitations in the Napa Valley.
- Restructured how leadership was chosen, trained and mentored from an archaic model to one more suited for the local community.
- Implemented "Light the Night," an event filled with music, actors and music, where the college campus and community gathered for a dramatic retelling of the Christmas story.
- Implemented Flicks on the Lawn. During the warmer months, the PUC Church sponsored outdoor showings of movies for the church, the college and the local community. We brought in food trucks and entertainment.
- Planned and hosted lunch after church services for students wanting a home cooked meal. Every other weekend, we hosted 20+ students in our home. This expanded to dozens of church member's homes, who hosted once a month.
- Planned and executed Sweet Treats in the Back 40. At the beginning of each year church members would guide new students on hikes in the back 40 (the wilderness behind the college) and end up at a place where baked goods were shared by the local church community.
- Started Food Around the Fountain, an outdoor bi-annual after church event that fed the whole PUC campus lunch after church, around the iconic mall fountain.
- Established a church "safe place" for LGBTQI+ students to be heard and seen in a church context.
- Created teams of students and older church members to work together in the planning and implementing of worship services.
- Substantially upgraded the LiveStream production system, adding new hardware, software, projectors and screens in the front of the church.
- Participating member of the PUC Board.
- Regular meetings with the PUC President and Department Heads to collaborate church and school in mission.
Lead Pastor
North Cascade Seventh-day Adventist Church
Burlington, WA
07.2009 - 06.2013
- Revamped church governance to better serve the church body.
- Created a regular community service rotation that included a thrift shop, home maintenance projects and services for the homeless.
- Maintained a relationship with the local news media to cover major events the church provided for the community.
- Kept a relationship with the city mayor to partner in city projects.
- Created a campaign to successfully pay off a 10 year church property loan in 2 years.
- Held a strong relationship with our local Adventist school, teaching classes for them on a regular basis.
- Grew in regular church attendance each year.
- Partnered with the mayor to have an annual city wide service day for our homeless friends. This included material needs, hair cuts, medical attention and counseling referrals.
- Receiving names from a local social agency, we provided a Christmas banquet, large food boxes and Christmas gifts for families in financial need.
- Volunteered as a hospital chaplain and was on a once a week rotation to minister to those in our local hospital.
Principal
Cascade Christian Academy
Wenatchee, WA
06.2005 - 06.2009
- Grew a K-12 school's attendance from 154 to 207 in 3 years.
- Developed a successful marketing strategy for school growth.
- Used local AM/FM radio to market the school. Was on three times a day on different stations, targeting our preferred demographic.
- Took out billboards on busy streets, featuring our students and inviting the community for tours.
- Hired to reinvent the school website.
- Hosted biannual town halls, inviting parent feedback on how they perceived the school.
- Reinvented the preschool and daycare facility so that it went from losing $30k a year to a net profit of over $100k a year.
- Added $1.5 million to the school's endowment fund.
- Created curriculum to better serve our community, targeting the 60% of our non-Adventist clientele.
- Established a relationship with the local news paper and radio station to cover our special events. CCA was front page news (for all the right reasons) on dozens of occasions.
- Built a new gymnasium and cafeteria for our childcare center.
- Built a new junior high wing on the existing school.
- Led in our local Rotary Club, establishing relationships with our local community leaders.
Chaplain
Mount Pisgah Academy
Asheville, NC
07.1996 - 06.2002
- Implemented an annual week of mission, sending students and faculty locally and around the world to serve the needs of different communities.
- Worked with local media to cover local service events the school engaged in.
- Sponsored and mentored local school government.
- Planned all weekend activities for the student body.
- Taught and spoke at local churches and service organizations.
Chaplain
Burman University
LaCombe, Alberta
05.1991 - 05.1994
- Served as chaplain of the university, the local academy and associate pastor of the local church.
- Sponsored and mentored the local student government.
- Served as the head coach for the women's volleyball team.
- Served as the head coach for the women's flag football team.
Education
Master of Divinity
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI06.1996
History And Biblical Studies
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, WA05.1990
Skills
- Gifted communicator
- Seasoned story teller
- Published author
- Creative administrator
- Mentor and leadership developer
- Collaborative team member
- Vision castor
- Creative program developer
- Open listener
Accomplishments
- Featured speaker for Adventist Health Portland Week of Spiritual Emphasis.
- Participating member of Adventist Health Portland Missions Board.
- International featured speaker for Avondale University, South Queensland, Australia Camp Meeting, camp meetings in British Columbia, Alberta, Eastern Canada, featured speaker for Penang Adventist Hospital, East Kenya Union Conference, and for the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
- Guest Speaker for the It Is Written broadcast.
- Guest Speaker for The ONE Project.
- Writer and contributer for the Daily Walk, a daily devotional plan organized by The ONE Project, that reaches over 10,000 people.
- Current writer and contributer for ReNew, an online magazine put out by the Pacific Union of Seventh-day Adventists.
- Theology professor for Walla Walla University and Pacific Union College, teaching both lower and upper division theology classes.
- Past Homiletics professor for Pacific Union College.
- Featured guest speaker for La Sierra University, Pacific Union College, Union College, Southwestern Adventist University, Southern Adventist University, Burman University, and Florida Hospital College.
- Articles and contributions to the SDA Collegiate Quarterly, youth magazines, and multiple Adventist union papers.
- Author of four published books.
- Coordinator for dozens of local and international mission trips.
- Host and tour guide to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Greece and Turkey.
- Guest speaker for Voice of Prophecy broadcast.
- Social media coordinator for my current church.
- Guest speaker for multiple Adventist conference camp meetings and ministerial events in the United States.
- Initiator of a successful collegiate Sabbath School class at Pacific Union College.
- Innovator of Food Around the Fountain, Sweet Treats in the Back 40 and Light the Night with Pacific Union College.
- Originator of the annual total school mission trip with Mount Pisgah Academy.
- Initiator of local ministerial gatherings in the Napa Valley.
Timeline
Director, Mission and Spiritual Care
Adventist Health System
01.2023 - Current
Lead Pastor
Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
01.2019 - 12.2023
Lead Pastor
Pacific Union College Church
07.2013 - 01.2019
Lead Pastor
North Cascade Seventh-day Adventist Church
07.2009 - 06.2013
Principal
Cascade Christian Academy
06.2005 - 06.2009
Chaplain
Mount Pisgah Academy
07.1996 - 06.2002
Chaplain
Burman University
05.1991 - 05.1994
Master of Divinity
Andrews University
History And Biblical Studies
Seattle Pacific University