: : modern day levite - the worship ministry of mark swanson

| bio |

born and raised in michigan, mark started singing with his family in their baptist church when he was 4 or 5 years old. growing up, he decided to pursue every opportunity available, in order to get better equipped and "stretch" himself vocally. in high school, mark sang in 5 different choirs, singing solos in each and continued singing in church. in 1988, he was the recipient of an interlochen music camp and a fred warings u.s. chorus schlarship, thus furthering his training. after graduating from high school, mark decided that he would try to make a living with his abilities and began performing, producing and directing summer stock theater and musicals. after meeting and marrying his wife, kristine, mark was hired by a production company in new york city that was contracted to provide the entertainment for american hawaii cruises. from 1991 - 1994, mark worked as an entertainer on the cruise line's 2 vessels, performing a variety shows for an average of 900 passengers each week.

when mark and kristine moved back to michigan, he began singing with a jazz/blues band and took a job as the lead vocalist & front man for a black tie & special events band...but the Lord had other plans for him. mark and kristine found themselves wanting to experience more of God. they knew there was more because they had friends that were experiencing more and they saw a difference...they were hungry!

finally, after deciding to take God out of the box of their former experience, He led them to a charasmatic church where they began to grow in the Holy Spirit. it was there that God awakened mark's destiny to be a worship leader. for a season, God did not release him to be on a worship team but had him sit in the congregation and worship. it was during this time that the Lord dealt with many of the heart issues that would have inhibited his ability to lead others in worship. this was also the season that God used to begin to equip mark on issues such as what worship is...why we worship...when we are to worship and how the Lord wants to be worshipped. when mark was released, the Lord had him in a supportive capacity, playing drums. slowly, God began to use mark to fill in on a song or 2 here and there. one thing led to another and -after a time of testing- he was leading worship on a more consistent basis. in 1998, mark and kristine had a baby girl, they were growing spiritually and were developing a level intimacy with the Lord that they had never experienced before.

it was at that point that the Lord began speaking to mark...telling him to "tuck up close, that He (God) was getting ready to do something major." shortly thereafter, mark was asked to be the part time worship leader at saginaw valley community church. two years later, in 2000, he was hired on full time and has -in the last 7 years- led worship for ministers / minisries such as streams international ministries & john paul jackson, aaron evans & bridge builders international ministries, bobby conner & eagles view ministries, paul keith davis & white dove ministries, patricia king & extreme prophetic, mark virkler, barbie breathitt and john & paula sandford.

mark's primary anointing is as a communicator, whether through leading worship and praise or through equipping and teaching. his sold-out, passionate, prophetic worship is fueled by intimacy with the Lord and the Father's heart and has been anointed for healing, intimacy, love, purity and holiness. mark has had extensive equipping in and ministers in elijah house inner healing, in the prophetic and hearing God, in worship and prophetic worship, in visions, dreams and dream interpretation, in counseling and in theophostics, among other issues/topics. he is currently the pastor of worship & arts at saginaw valley community church in saginaw, michigan and lives there with kristine, their daughter, abigail and their son, luke.