KANSAS CITY, Mo—Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen has announced that John Mark Clifton will join the seminary’s faculty as visiting professor of church ministry.
“To know Mark Clifton is to love Mark Clifton,” said President Jason Allen. “Additionally, Mark brings a level of experience and competence related to pastoral ministry and church revitalization that is hard to match. I am thrilled that our students will be learning from him for years to come.”
As a visiting professor at Midwestern Seminary, Clifton will regularly visit campus for teaching and lectures in master’s and doctoral programs.
In addition to his teaching role at the seminary, Clifton will continue to serve as the teaching pastor at Linwood Baptist Church and as the executive director of church replanting and rural strategy at the North American Mission Board.
Reflecting on his new role at the seminary, Clifton said, “The task of church revitalization and replanting is at its core is an act of worship. We seek to realize healthy, gospel-focused churches for God’s glory.”
He went on to say, “As a resident of the Kansas City metro area and as an alumnus and the son of an alumnus of Midwestern Seminary, I am delighted to assist the seminary community in the task of encouraging and equipping pastors and leaders to revitalize and replant declining and dying churches.”
Beginning in the fall semester of 2023, students will have opportunities to learn from Clifton’s vast experience. Beyond his current ministry at NAMB, Midwestern Seminary, and his local church, he has led in numerous national conferences on church planting and revitalization, as well as consulted and coached leaders, churches, and denominational entities throughout North America, and has taught in a variety of settings including colleges and seminaries.
His experience also includes serving as the lead mission strategist for the Kansas Nebraska Southern Baptist Convention, leading church planting efforts in the regions of North Metro Atlanta, GA, serving as a church planter in Montreal, Quebec, and as a Southern Baptist National Church Planting Missionary for eastern Canada, and leading Southern Baptist church planting projects west of the Mississippi. Clifton has been planting, replanting, and providing strategic mission leadership since 1978.
Beyond his ministry endeavors, Clifton is the author of Reclaiming Glory: Creating a Gospel Legacy throughout North America (B&H). He cohosts NAMB’s Revitalize and Replant podcast and is a regular contributor to several blogs and magazines, including the recent edition of the Midwestern Magazine.
In anticipation of Clifton’s impact on seminary students, Midwestern Seminary Provost Jason Duesing shared, “It is a true joy to see Mark Clifton assist us as a Visiting Professor. We are thankful to him and to NAMB for giving us some of his time—Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College students stand to benefit a great deal from Mark’s extensive experience and, even more, his heart for pastors and future church leaders.”
Mark is married to his wife Jill and they have two sons, two daughters in law, and four grandsons. To learn more about his ministry, visit https://www.namb.net/church-replanting/
