Mark Clark on Preaching to the Skeptic and the Saint, Planting Village Church, and Leading Through Burnout
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In today's conversation, Jason sits down with Mark Clark, the pastor who planted Village Church in British Columbia, and now the Global Senior Pastor at Bayside Church in California. Mark’s story includes an atheist upbringing in Ontario, a late-teen conversion, a dream of becoming an academic at Oxford, and a call to plant a church in one of the most secular corners of North America. What began with sixteen people in his living room grew into one of the fastest-growing churches in Canada, and Mark reflects with both gratitude and candor on the road that took him there.
Jason and Mark talk about the patience that shaped their early ministry years, waiting for the right time, the right people, and the right season to plant churches. Mark opens up his convictions around preaching, describing how he learned to speak to the skeptic and the lifelong believer in the same room, and why he refuses to choose between reaching the lost and discipling the found. He's also honest about the cost of leading through rapid growth, including the burnout seasons that left him preaching dizzy and gripping the pulpit to stay upright.
The conversation also turns to what it meant to leave the church he founded and entrust it to leaders he loves, and the insecurity that keeps many leaders from transitioning. Drawing on Zechariah 10, he candidly describes his calling as making warhorses out of sheep, a vision he holds with both conviction and a winsome humility.
In this episode you'll hear:
How an atheist kid from Ontario became a church planter in one of Canada's most secular cities,
Why patience, the right time, people, and season, mattered more than urgency in the plant,
How to preach to the skeptic and the lifelong believer in the same room,
What the burnout seasons cost Mark, and the team decision that reshaped his preaching,
Why he left the church he founded, and what it's been like to watch it flourish under new leadership,
How Zechariah 10 reframed his calling around raising and releasing the next generation of leaders
Mark Clark
Mark Clark is the founder of Village Church, a multi-site church with locations across Canada that exists to reach skeptics and challenge Christians. He now serves as one of the Senior Lead Pastors at Bayside Church in California. He is the author of The Problem of God (2017), winner of the Word Award for Evangelism, The Problem of Jesus (2021), and most recently The Problem of Life (2025). He also hosts The Mark Clark Podcast, where he shares his teaching along with reflections on the craft of preaching.
Mark's passions include apologetics, leadership development, and seeing the gospel shape culture. He lives in California with his wife, Erin, and their three daughters.
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