About Pastor Jeske
Pastor Mark Jeske has been bringing the Word of God to viewers of Time of Grace since the program began airing in early 2002.
A Milwaukee, Wis. native, Pastor Jeske has served as the senior pastor at St. Marcus Lutheran Church on Milwaukee’s near north side since 1980. During those earlier years of his 28 year tenure there, he led a movement of sorts – to not abandon the inner city when racial tensions caused urban flight to accelerate. He led the struggling church and its elementary school through those troubled times, not only keeping their doors from closing, but also helping both flourish and grow into the twenty-first century.
Today, St. Marcus is a thriving multicultural congregation of nearly 1000 members. It successfully operates numerous outreach ministries. And St. Marcus School is nationally known as an innovative, Christ-centered educational institution recognized for its high standards of academic achievement.
Before he began serving as the pastor at St. Marcus, Pastor Jeske spent a year in Colombia, South America, starting a mission church as part of his internship assignment while attending Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis., for his theological post graduate education. He also spent two years teaching English, history, and Old Testament at Northwestern Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis. prior to his call – and arrival – at St. Marcus in Milwaukee.
An accomplished instrumentalist (piano, but also guitar and mandolin, among others), Pastor Jeske enjoys touring with his church’s regionally known choir, United Voices of Praise. He especially appreciates jazz, blues, and gospel music.
He also is a serious historian, having studied European, church, and American history for many years. And Pastor Jeske is passionate about the need for America’s various cultures to tolerate, learn from, and truly appreciate one another – the theme of a book he is in the beginning stages of writing.
In addition, Pastor Jeske has written a Bible commentary (General Epistles, People’s Bible Commentary, Concordia Publishing House) and more than a dozen daily devotional booklets. Numerous articles transcribed from his recent Sunday messages appear regularly in Time of Grace publications.
Pastor Jeske and his wife, Carol, an elementary school teacher, are blessed with four children; John, Sam, Liz, and Michael. They live on the east side of Milwaukee.