Associate Superintendent for Church Advance and Missions
mmullinax@mwcma.org
Why you want to talk to him:
- Church Advance | You know you’re ready to try something new in your church, but you’re not sure what to do.
- Missions Mobilization | You want to create meaningful and relevant engagement with missions in your church.
- Organizational Leadership | Strategy and team development doesn’t sound all that exciting, but you know you need it.
Marshall’s dream was to be a missionary pilot. This wasn’t a little kid’s dream – he actually pursued this dream at LeTourneau University; but in his last year of studies it became abundantly clear that God was closing that door. He resolutely graduated with an aeronautical degree and came back to Fort Wayne, IN to serve in his local church in whatever way he could while not living the dream. After marrying Babs, they pursued missions together. In their U.S. church ministry and two terms of overseas service they have come to learn that the dream was a call that God has been refining in the different seasons of their lives. Call is a distinction from role or assignment – those are simply dynamic expressions of call. Marshall’s irrevocable call is to serve the body of Christ. Sometimes that has looked like full-time ministry, sometimes lay ministry, and at times overseas ministry. “If I were called to any one of those areas, I couldn’t have done them all,” he explains. “And all of them were necessary at a point in time to understand and be part of what God wants to do now.” This is why Marshall’s two Master’s degrees pair so well: Intercultural Studies and Organizational Leadership.
On the personal side, Marshall has a rather eclectic collection of licenses – private pilot, airframe and power plant mechanic, scuba diving, first aid, ministry accreditation, church coaching, and Peacemaking. He also has an eclectic collection of music on his playlists – anything from Skillet to Natalie Grant with the likes of Lecrae and Alan Jackson scattered in. Marshall loves strategy games, exploring new landscapes, studying history, and is a faithful friend.
Throughout Marshall’s life, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 has been foundational for him. First of all, the foundation on which we are building is so crucial – nothing short of the foundation of Jesus Christ will amount to anything. Paul, an expert builder, had an awareness of his calling to take the work as far as he could before someone else would take up the work according to their calling and the gifts God saw fit to give them. In living out his calling, Marshall is careful of how he is building; to know he is giving his best, building with integrity for those who build beside and after him, and using costly stone, which indicate sacrifice and priority. We are never doing the work of the Kingdom alone.