The Rev. Canon MARK SUTHERLAND, Interim Dean

Mark is a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, where all of his family live still.  In 1977, at the age of 22, he graduated from the University of Canterbury with an LLB and, shortly thereafter, left on a Kiwi walkabout from which he never returned.

After five years in sales at London’s Harrod’s department store, Mark was accepted by the Bishop of London for priesthood and completed his ministerial training at Ripon College, Cuddeson, the Church of England’s first and oldest theological college at Oxford. Two years later he went as an exchange student to Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, where he met his partner, Al. Upon Mark’s graduation he and Al returned to England where Mark was awarded the Oxford Certificate of Theology and where Al completed his own seminary training at Cranmer Hall, the theological college for St. John’s College, Durham University.

In 1985, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Mark was ordained deacon in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. He was ordained priest one year later and he served his curacy in two parishes of the Diocese of London.

Early on, Mark was drawn to a ministry to those in emotional distress.  To better serve in this ministry, he began training in psychoanalytic counseling at the University of London, eventually obtaining an M.A. in Adult and Continuing Education, as well as an M.A. in Psychotherapy from the University of East London.

Licensed as chaplain in 1991 by the Bishop of Southwark, Mark became the Aileen Kerr Fellow in Mental Health and Pastoral Care at the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals, which together with the Institute of Psychiatry, a part of Kings College, University of London, comprise an internationally renowned center of psychiatric excellence and post graduate psychiatric medical and allied professional training.

For 12 of the next 18 years, Mark directed one of the largest departments of spiritual care in the UK. He became a nationally recognized educator, speaker, and writer on the complex interface between emotional disturbance and spiritual health and development.

In 2005, he became an associate priest to the parish of St. Alfege, Greenwich, where he rediscovered his love of journeying with a covenanted Christian community. Here, Mark believes, God planted the seeds for a return to parish ministry. In 2008, Mark resigned as Presiding Chaplain of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and he and Al followed their family (including their beloved 4 year old granddaughter, Claire) to Phoenix where Mark became Chaplain Resident at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

In the Spring of 2010, Mark brought his healing ministry to Trinity Cathedral when he became Associate for Pastoral Counseling, and on Trinity Sunday, 2010, Bishop Kirk Smith appointed him Canon Pastor to the Cathedral. As Canon Pastor Mark is involved with pastoral care and counseling, spiritual direction of individuals and the community, as well as adult formation. In August 2012, Bishop Kirk Smith appointed him as Interim Dean. Mark is also a member of the Bishop’s Commission on Ministry.

Mark perceives his ministry of pastoral care to have a primary focus on healing  as an essential part of the lives of both individuals and communities. He distinguishes healing from cure. Cure eradicates the symptom(s) of suffering.  By contrast healing concerns the transformation of perspective on one’s own suffering bringing the individual concerned into a deeper and more fulfilling relationship with God, self and others.

Email Mark at mark@azcathedral.org