The Rev. Dr. Mark Lee (you can call him “Mark”) comes to St. Paul’s with a rich background serving the church.  He was intentional interim pastor for First Congregational Church of Rapid City for two years during the pandemic. Prior to that, he served 11 years as Director of Adult Formation at Plymouth UCC in Fort Collins.  Before he joined the UCC, he was a minister in the Metropolitan Community Churches (“MCC”), founding churches in Fort Collins and Cheyenne, and serving as an interim in Rapid City.  Earlier in life, he did overseas missions, national park ministry, and had administrative positions in MCC, Unitarian and Episcopal churches. He has also served the wider church, in MCC as Assistant District Coordinator (US) for the Mountain & Plains District and as Christian Education faculty for Samaritan College.  In the UCC he served the Platte Valley Association as chair of the Church and Ministry Committee, and the wider Rocky Mountain Conference as ONA Coordinator. 
 
A graduate of LeTourneau College (now University) in Longview, TX, he first attended seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, but was given the “left foot of fellowship” when outed as gay about halfway through. He then completed his Master of Divinity at Iliff School of Theology in Denver.  He later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Iliff, writing a dissertation on preaching in LGBTQ+ communities. This varied theological training, encompassing both evangelical and progressive traditions, has helped him to be multi-lingual theologically. In recent years his horizons have broadened even more, with study and pilgrimage experiences in Turkey, Israel/Palestine & Jordan, Iona, and annual retreats at Wyoming’s own Ring Lake Ranch. 
 
Mark lives on a small acreage in rural Larimer County, CO north of Fort Collins, which he and his late partner of 29 years, Ivan Loy (a UW graduate who taught math at Front Range Community College and died suddenly in 2022), built into a gardening and Boer market-goat operation.  Mark also enjoys time hiking and fishing in the mountains, foreign travel, and exploring diverse restaurants.  He currently has a few dwarf goats, some chickens and peafowl, two big dogs and writes his best sermons while pulling weeds in the gardens.

Pastor Mark commutes to Laramie generally twice a week and as necessary, and is available by Zoom and phone other times.

​Having a discussion with an Elder Pine, Ring Lake Ranch, WY, 2023

Speaking at Pro-Choice Rally after the Dobbs ruling, 2022