Mark Buchanan is the award-winning author of seven books, a popular conference speaker, a professor, and a frequent contributor to Christianity Today. He says he writes because he can’t help it, a passion that started when he was twelve after a fifth grade teacher awakened in him the possibilities of language and story. Speaking about his passion, the local church, he says, “I became a pastor not because I intended to, but because God has a sense of humor. He saw something in me neither I nor anyone else saw, and he drew me down a path that has been the hardest and best of all.”

Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Vancouver’s Regent College. Mark served as the senior pastor of New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, B.C., for seventeen years and now holds the position of Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose Theological Seminary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

When not teaching, writing, or speaking, Mark can be found riding his motorcycle, drinking dark, rich coffee, or enjoying fishing, scuba diving, skiing, gardening, or woodworking.