In recommending Mark to the parish, the Search Committee stated "his life experiences and exuberant personality make him a great fit for St. Dunstan's." The Committee continued, "[We] were impressed not only with his style but with his ability to make scripture relevant to our lives and to make God's love feel real." Click here to read the full text of the Search Committee's recommendation.
Mark McKone-Sweet brings to his ministry many skills including thirteen years of business experience with Equal Exchange. (www.equalexchange.com) the leading Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate company in the USA. He has a BA from Wheaton College (MA), a MBA from Northeastern University (MA) and a Masters of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge (MA). (www.eds.edu)
Mark recently was serving as the Assistant Rector at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church (Natick, MA). Mark has also served for two years as the Youth Minister for a collaborative of four parishes in Newton. Mark is currently a consultant to parishes forming international mission teams and serves as the Vice President of the Massachusetts Episcopal Clergy Association board (MECA). June 2010 Mark was in San Pedro, Belize serving the Holy Cross Anglican School and is planning a Mission Trip to the Diocese of Haiti with The Dover Church for January 2011.
Parish communities that have helped form Mark to be the priest he is today include: Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church (Edgartown, MA), The CPE program at Miriam Hospital (Providence, RI) and Saint Paul's Episcopal Parish (Newton Highlands, MA), The Chaplaincy at Wheaton College (Norton, MA) and of course his hometown parish Trinity Episcopal Church (Concord, MA). His baptismal church is Christ Church in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA).
Mark lives with his family in Needham. His wife Kate is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at Babson College and is a Board Member of the Bethany House of Prayer in Arlington, MA. His daughter Maya (6) and son Marcos (3) are bundles of energy and attend schools down the street. Mark enjoys baseball, biking, swimming, walking, singing and playing with his kids. He & his family are hard and true Red Sox fans. This October, Mark will be walking the The 3Day Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, D.C.