History

At the risk of dating myself, my involvement on “the web” has gone through a continual process of evolution since 1995 (and before that, if you remember BBS’s and dial-up modems!).  My first web site was called “Wessner’s Research Page”, then “Ancient Wisdom, Modern Faith”, then “wessner.ca”, and now it is simply “Mark D Wessner”.  And I am sure it will continue to change again and again in the future!

Depending on the time of day, I am the Lead Pastor at Westwood Church, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at American Public University, a Christian Studies Instructor at the University of Northern British Columbia, and/or a weekly columnist with the Prince George Citizen.  Over the years, I have also spent time in prison (as a chaplain), worked for the government, managed my own consulting company, and have earned a PhD in Biblical studies.  Also, if you are interested, you can check out my information on Academia.edu, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Thanks for checking out this web site.  Take some time and view a few of the subject areas areas at the top, and if you have any comments or suggestions, let me know!

Mark

Pastor

Being a pastor at a local church is great!  I get paid to teach people, to walk with them during their spiritual journeys, and sometimes I even get to be there during an “aha!” moment that someone experiences!  It is a lot of fun and it is very rewarding to work in a context of spiritual formation.

Since joining Westwood in 2006, I have been able to help strategically plan and carefully implement our vision to “Bring Jesus into Life”.  After more than four years of being the Senior Associate Pastor and giving oversight to our Adult Ministries, I have recently changed my role to become the Lead Pastor.  If you are interested, the details about our vision, our activities, and how you can get involved can be found at the Westwood Church web site.  Why don’t you take a look?

Mark

Professor

Since 2002, I have been developing and teaching undergraduate and graduate e-learning courses in religious studies with the American Public University System (APUS) – over 3,700 students so far.  In addition, I was fortunate to be the first religious studies instructor at the university and was able to play a significant leadership role in the development of the Religion Program at APUS.

APUS (also known as American Military University or American Public University), is a private university that is entirely online, and has 90,000 students.  Our largest student demographic has historically been military and service (eg, Coast Guard) personnel, although our student body is now very diversified.  As a result, I have had the privilege of teaching students who are actively involved in various activities in countries all around the world!

Some of the courses that I have created and taught are:

• Introduction to World Religions
• Religion in America
• Introduction to the New Testament
• Introduction to the Bible
• The Five Books of Moses
• Religious Fundamentalism
• Life and Teachings of Jesus
• History of Religion

In 2007, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) approved the creation and implementation of a new Certificate in Christian Studies, managed through the Continuing Studies department. It was a pretty exciting development, as it has been well received by both the student body and the local community. The five specific courses that we identified, and that are being taught, are:

• History and Literature of the Bible
• Introduction to the New Testament
• Christian Spirituality
• History of the Christian Church
• Jesus and the Gospels

It is exciting to be a part of this Certificate program, as there is nothing else like it in the region!

Writer

In addition to teaching and church leadership, in 2011 I also started writing a weekly column in the Prince George Citizen.  To give you a sense of what the column is about, here is a partial excerpt from the introductory column:

“Religion.  Spirituality.  God.  Have you ever wanted to have a conversation about these topics, but didn’t know who to talk to?  Starting today, the Citizen invites you to read and participate in a new weekly column that explores spirituality in Prince George and around the world.  The topics will be wide-ranging, relevant and engaging, and a key element to the column will be an ongoing “Q&A” feature – we want your questions and ideas for topics to discuss!  Read the column.  Ask questions.  Get involved, and let’s talk and explore together.”

If you have time, check out the PG Citizen (print or online), and browse through some articles.