Our Pastor

Pastor Mark Cook and His Wife Donna

Pastor Mark and Donna Cook were high school sweethearts. They married soon after 
graduation, on August 27, 1971. 
The following year, their first daughter, Tracy, was born. 
In 1975, Mark came to Christ through the ministry of the Gideons. Donna already had a 
relationship with Christ.
They moved to Madison, VA in 1976, and made their home there. Their second 
daughter, Tanya, was born.
In 1983, Mark and Donna felt called to the ministry. They sold their home, and half the 
land it sat on to pay their way through school. They attended The Salvation Army 
School for Officers Training in Atlanta, GA. On graduation, they declined an 
appointment, and Mark took a pastoral staff position at Immanuel's Church in Silver 
Spring, MD.
After two years at Immanuel's, they returned to The Salvation Army. They served in 
Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Fairfax, Richmond, Waynesboro and Williamsburg, VA. 
Leaving The Salvation Army, Mark and Donna came to Charlottesville, VA. Donna 
worked for the University of Virginia, and Mark worked for a charity.
Soon thereafter, Mark was offered the pastorate of the Free Methodist church in 
Culpeper, VA. 
Serving in Culpeper allowed Mark and Donna to build a home on the land they had 
retained in Madison many years before.
After eight years in Culpeper, Mark and Donna sensed that it was time to act on a 
dream they had shared since the 1970's- to have a contemporary-worship church in 
Madison.
After much planning, schooling and work, they saw the church launched on Easter 
Sunday, 2008.
It is Mark and Donna's desire to see people come to faith in Christ; to help people learn 
to handle their finances; to encourage strong, healthy marriages; to help parents raise 
happy, godly children; and to help people live lives that bring glory to God.