Mark Russell | |
---|---|
Chief Executive of The Children's Society | |
Assumed office 2019 | |
Preceded by | Matthew Reed |
Chief Executive of Church Army | |
In office 2006–2019 | |
Preceded by | Philip Johanson |
Succeeded by | Des Scott |
Personal details | |
Born | Mark Kenneth Russell 25 June 1974 Northern Ireland |
Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
Occupation | Chief executive |
Mark Kenneth Russell (born 25 June 1974) is a charity executive. Since 2019, he has served as the Chief Executive of The Children's Society. He has additionally served as a lay member of the General Synod of the Church of England and of the Archbishops' Council, both from 2005 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. [1] [2] He was previously a local preacher in the Methodist Church in Ireland, [3] and was a reader in the Church of England. [3] [4]
Russell was born on 25 June 1974 and brought up in Northern Ireland. [1] [2] He was educated at Portadown College, a grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh. [1] He studied law at Queen's University Belfast, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1995. [1] [2]
At the age of 21, Russell was licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Church in Ireland. [3] From 1997 to 2000, he was a youth pastor at a Methodist church in Lurgan, County Armagh. [1] He was also a member of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland between 1996 and 1998. [1]
In 2000, Russell moved to England to become a youth minister at Christ Church, Chorleywood, an evangelical Anglican church in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, and a member of the Church of England. [2] [5] In 2005, he was elected as a lay member of the General Synod of the Church of England and appointed to the Archbishops' Council as its youngest member. [2] In 2006, he left Chorleywood having been appointed chief executive officer of Church Army, an Anglican evangelistic charity working in the United Kingdom and Ireland. [1] [2] He was a member of the council of the Evangelical Alliance from 2007 to 2012. [6] He was made an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral in 2011. [1] He stepped down from the General Synod and the Archbishops' Council at the end of 2011. [1] [7] In November 2015, he was re-elected to the General Synod as a lay representative for the Diocese of Sheffield and re-appointed to the Archbishops' Council. His term of office ended in 2019. [1] [2] [8]
In April 2019, he was announced as having been appointed chief executive officer of the Children's Society. [9] He took up the post in August.
Russell is a supporter of Diverse Church, an organisation for LGBT Christians attending evangelical churches in the UK. [10] He wrote the foreword of Amazing Love: Theology for Understanding Discipleship, Sexuality and Mission (2016), a collection of essays by Anglican theologians that affirm LGBT relationships for Christians. [11] [12]
Russell supports the ordination of women as deacons, priests, and bishops in the Church of England. [13]
As of 2014 [update], Russell was a member of the Labour Party, [14] and a former executive of Christians on the Left. [15]
Russell lives in London with his partner David. [16]