In 2006, at the age of 31, Mark Russell was appointed as Chief Executive of Church Army, a leading mission agency of the Anglican Church.
In this role he leads a team of over 600 people working across the UK and Ireland. He is a sought-after conference speaker and preacher and has addressed major Christian gatherings all over the world. He has been a contributor to various BBC TV and radio shows, as well as Sky News.
Mark grew up in Northern Ireland and read Law at Queens’ University in Belfast. After two years of trouble shooting management in industry, he served for three years as the Youth Pastor of Lurgan Methodist Church in Northern Ireland. Mark developed a pioneering youth work and became chaplain to a high school. In 1999, Mark was awarded the ‘British Gas Tomorrow’s People Award’. This award was presented to him for his cross-community work, bringing Catholic and Protestant young people together across Northern Ireland in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement. In 2000, Mark was appointed as Youth Minister of Christ Church Chorleywood, working with young people across South West Hertfordshire.
In 2004 he was appointed, for a 7 year term, as the youngest member of the Archbishops’ Council, the senior strategic body of the Church of England. Alongside this he was a member of the Church of England’s Parliament, the General Synod. Mark was re-elected to the General Synod in November 2015, and then elected to the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. He is a member of the Archbishops’ College of Evangelists, and an Honorary Canon of Worcester Cathedral. He sits on the Council of Reference for Youth for Christ, and is a member of the Mission and Public Affairs Council of the Church of England and the Archbishops’ Task Group on evangelism.
Mark is best known for his passionate commitment to issues facing young people and social justice. He loves social media, and his twitter following numbers over 7500 people (@markrusselluk). He was presented with the ‘Christian Tweeter of the Year’ Award in 2013 and 2014.
Mark lives in Sheffield and in his spare time he loves travelling, the gym and a good red wine. If he were ever on Mastermind his specialist subject would be the West Wing!