Rev. Mark Galang to serve as District Superintendent of new Puget Sound Missional District

Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky intends to appoint the Rev. John Mark Galang to serve on the Pacific Northwest and Greater Northwest Area cabinets as District Superintendent for the new Puget Sound Missional District, beginning July 1, 2018. While the name may be familiar, Galang will be taking responsibility for a district that is larger than the current Puget Sound District in both geography and number of ministries.

The Puget Sound Missional District is expected to include 48 churches, consisting of the entirety of the current Puget Sound District along with additional churches from both the Seattle and Tacoma Districts.

“Rev. Galang is a highly organized, creative thinker who is tireless in his work for the Gospel,” offered Bishop Stanovsky. “In the local church, he has helped Beacon UMC to become a transformative community known and trusted throughout the Filipino and Beacon Hill communities. As district superintendent, Mark will help guide the Puget Sound district with his gifts of innovation and deep spirituality.”

Born and raised in the Philippines, Galang received his Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Divinity School in Cabanatuan City, Philippines and was ordained as an Elder in 2006. He relocated to Seattle in July 2008 to serve in his current appointment as lead pastor of Beacon United Methodist Church. A proud parent to three wonderful kids namely, Kirk, Keon and Kaia, Mark is also happily married to his wife Mylyn.

Galang currently chairs the PNW Board of Congregational Development which serves in the work of revitalization and renewal of existing communities of faith as well as in organizing new ones. In addition to serving on a myriad of conference teams and committees, he has provided significant leadership for the Christmas Institute (CI), an ethnically relevant program designed to nurture and train youth and young adults, most of which are of Filipino descent, to be great leaders in the church and the community.

A staunch advocate for workers, immigrant, and human rights, Galang has participated in campaigns and served on several groups focused on advocacy work in Seattle and in the greater South King County Area, including worker’s and immigrant rights, ending family violence, and anti-human trafficking. Recognized as a civic leader, he was recently appointed by the Seattle City Council as a member of the City’s Immigrant and Refugee Commission.

“I am both humbled and pleased to accept the Bishop’s invitation to serve God and the church in this new capacity,” wrote Rev. Galang. “I am also excited by the opportunities and challenges that awaits us as I enter this journey with all the people and churches in the new Puget Sound Missional District. I am looking forward to seeing where God will lead us together.”