After searching for months, a local church has finally found a new pastor to lead its congregation.
Mick Martin isn’t just ready to preach. The young pastor said he’s ready to throw a party at Parkside Community Church.
As the new lead pastor, Martin held his first two morning services Sunday, Jan. 15, and the church seemed excited to meet its new pastor.
Martin, originally from Massachusetts, comes to Camp Verde after serving with a couple of churches in Maricopa County.
Martin worked for many months at the Cornerstone mega-church in Chandler. Martin was laid off due to some hardships the church was going through.
“I worked some part-time jobs,” Martin said. “And I did a lot of praying.”
Martin got part-time gig at another church, the Church of Celebration in Maricopa.
After a few more months, he read about Parkside’s need for a new pastor on the Internet. One thing led to another, and church leaders seemed to think Martin would be a good fit.
Andy Myers has been serving as the church’s interim lead pastor since July 2009 where he’s helped the church through a lot of growth, change and revision.
Myers said the church really started getting serious about the search for a new pastor in July.
Martin spent the past week moving into not only his new church office, but helping his family somewhat settle in with life in its new town.
Martin’s house, to say the least, is a bit busy. Martin met his wife of 15 years, New Hampshire-native Catherine, in his home church back in New England.
Along the way the couple’s family has grown to include 15-year-old Emily, 12-year-old Michael, 10-year-old A.J., 8-year-old Timmy and 6-year-old Jenny.
The couple had worked in Arizona before, then did a stint in Iowa, before coming back to Arizona once again.
Maybe Martin just couldn’t get enough of those Arizona summers, but whatever the reason, Parkside is glad to have a new lead pastor. The kids were a little concerned about moving at first, Martin said, but now they’re excited to check out their new schools, with the campus conveniently located right across the street from dad’s new place of work on Camp Lincoln Road.
Martin said he is excited about the work that’s ahead, and ready to face it head-on with a style he said is going to be a “blast” and “off the hook.”
“We’re going to be doing things you may not used to be seeing in church,” Martin said. “This isn’t going to be your typical grandma church.”
The church offers a come-as-you-are experience, Martin said, and the only rule is there are “no perfect people” in attendance.
“We’re excited to get the church out there starting a new chapter in reaching the community,” Martin said. “Our passion is to make the name of Jesus more famous in Camp Verde.”
Meyers said he was looking forward to seeing Martin in action.
“Church should be a party,” Meyers said. “And God gives us a lot to celebrate.”
