If you spend time at Nativity, you’ll soon recognize Mark Grush as he serves the
congregation in a variety of ways.
Growing up in Raleigh, Mark attended church nearly every Sunday with his family. He
was active in the youth group and Sunday school, but found his Confirmation class to
be a bit boring!
During his college years, as he studied to earn his degree in engineering, church life
was no longer a priority. But God was working to draw Mark back to a congregation.
A gifted singer and instrumentalist, Mark began playing trombone in Nativity’s brass
ensemble. As he provided music alongside Bob Reuter, Russ Sena and others, the
liturgy grew familiar and kept calling him to make worship a part of his weekly routine.
As Mark became more active at Nativity, the music resonated with him in profound ways
with the music itself often overshadowing the lyrics. In addition, Mark recalls that
sermons preached by Nativity’s pastor at the time, the Rev. Mark Fitzsimmons, left his
mind “taking home the scriptures during the week.” His life became more full as he
realized he was living out his faith during the week in profound and life giving ways.
Mark also discovered a love for working with young people and he and his wife,
Michele, sensed a strong call to that ministry. Mark shares that many children and youth
today, “Have no choice. No control over their life.”
Passionate about leading and serving middle and high school students, Mark works to
improve the lives of the young people he meets. He organizes activities and has used
his own vacation time to attend weeklong youth retreats. The students he works with
see faith from a different perspective, a fact Mark appreciates as it causes him to see
things in new ways as well. He says, “It isn’t about quoting scripture; it is about living out
the faith.”
