Mark Dever is a theologian who serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. He is also the co-founder and president of 9Marks (previously known as the Center for Church Reform).
Mark Dever Biography
Mark E. Dever was born on August 28, 1960, in rural Kentucky, and grew up as an ardent reader. Before he was 10 years old, he began reading sections of the World Book Encyclopedia and the Harvard Classics and considered himself an agnostic based on his reading and thinking. Later, rereading and reflecting on the Gospels, as well as the changes he witnessed in the lives of Jesus’ disciples, prompted him to become a Christian.
There isn’t much information available regarding his background.
Education
Dever obtained a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Duke University, a Master of Divinity, summa cum laude, from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Philosophy in ecclesiastical history from Cambridge University, where he also received the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship from 1989 to 1991.
Mark Dever Family Life
Connie Dever is Dever’s wife. They have been married for 40 years and have two grown children as well as grandchildren.
Ministry
Since 1964, Mark has served as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. He is also the founder and president of 9 Marks Ministry, which he established in 1998. On a smaller scale, Dever and Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC train church leaders.
As indicated by 9Marks, Dever’s primary focus is on ecclesiology. By reclaiming a Biblical understanding of the church, he hopes to assist Bible-believing churches in becoming healthy. The nine points he offers are his good prescription for church health. He does not aim the book to be a comprehensive ecclesiology or even a full analysis of all the difficulties that can arise in modern churches. The nine points are as follows:
- Expositional preaching
- Biblical theology
- Biblical understanding of the Gospel
- Biblical understanding of conversion
- Biblical understanding of evangelism
- Biblical understanding of membership
- Biblical church discipline
- Promotion of Christian discipleship and growth
- Biblical understanding of church leadership
Furthermore, 9Marks hosts semi-annual weekend conferences at the church where pastors, elders, and seminarians from across the country learn about Dever’s church.
Dever also taught for the Divinity Faculty at the University of Cambridge and was an assistant pastor at Eden Baptist Church in Cambridge for two years.”
Books
Mark Dever is a writer as much as he is an avid reader. Some of his works include:
- Dever, Mark E., ed., Polity: A Collection of Historic Baptist Documents-Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life (2001)
- A Display of God’s Glory (2001)
- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (2004)
- The Deliberate Church – Building Your Ministry on the Gospel (2005)
- The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept (2005)
- The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (2006)
- By Whose Authority? Elders in Baptist Life (2006)
- The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (2007)
- What is a Healthy Church? (2007)
- 12 Challenges Churches Face (2008)
- In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement (2008)
- It is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement, with Michael Lawrence (2010)
- What Does God Want of us Anyway? (2010)
- Preach: Theology Meets Practice, with Greg Gilbert (2012)
- The Church: the Gospel Made Visible (2012)
- ‘ Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus ‘ (2016)
Net Worth
Mark Dever’s net worth is believed to be between $1 million and $5 million dollars.
Mark Dever Social Media
You can follow Mark Dever on the following social media platform:
Twitter: @MarkDever