Rev. Mark Stringer

Rev. Mark Stringer was called as our minister in May of 2001 and began serving the following August. His inspired ministry with our congregation and in the community has modeled the spirit of the words we use to close our services each week: “open to life, expecting to love, and prepared to serve.”

In recognition of Mark’s ministry at First Unitarian Church Des Moines, he received the Unitarian Universalist Association’s 2007 Westwood Grant, an award given, according to the Association, “… to a UU minister who has shown an exceptional entrepreneurial spirit in congregational leadership over a period of five years.” A number of his sermons have been published in the UUA’s Church of the Larger Fellowship publication Quest and on the website of the Human Rights Campaign.

Mark’s commitment to service extends into the broader community. He is an active leader in the central Iowa Industrial Areas Foundation affiliate AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) [www.amosiowa.org]. He serves on the founding committee for Project IOWA, an AMOS-instigated workforce development effort aimed at training workers in central Iowa to move from low-wage, dead-end jobs to career-track employment. During his six years as a board member of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, including two years as chair, he promoted the positive, healing role of religion in public life, defended the separation of church and state, and spoke on behalf of marriage as a civil right. On August 31, 2007, in the front yard of his Drake University neighborhood home, Mark officiated at Iowa’s first legally recognized same-sex wedding, an event drawing nationwide media exposure.

Mark acted as treasurer of the Prairie Star District UU Minister’s Association from 2003-2009 and served as the chaplain and evening vespers leader for the District’s UU summer camp in Nebraska, Camp Star Trail, in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, Mark was the keynote speaker for the UUA’s Northern New England District Annual Conference, speaking on the theme “Getting Unstuck: Nurturing Relational Curiosity as a Means to Break Through." He serves as a member of the UUA’s Ministers Advisory Council on Congregation-Based Community Organizing.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Mark is a graduate of Chicago's Meadville Lombard Theological School, for which he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Ministerial Formation. He holds an MA degree in theatre from Bowling Green State University and a BA degree in Theatre and English from Ashland University. Before discerning his call to the Unitarian Universalist ministry, Mark taught English composition at Chicago State University and speech at Ashland University. He also performed in national tours as a professional actor, and facilitated diversity training workshops sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League. Mark lives in Des Moines with his wife Susan, and their daughter Leah