Mark C. Hicks

President, Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries National, Inc
Executive Director, Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries of NC, Inc

Mark Hicks founded Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries in 1999 to mobilize local church volunteers for ministry in the prisons, jails and youth development centers and to promote DISCIPLE Bible Study in local churches.  Mark believes that a central function of ordained ministry is empowerment of the laity for the work of ministry.  “The church of Jesus Christ is ready to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world.  All they need is encouragement and the right tools in their tool boxes.  I want to provide that encouragement and those tools.” 

Mark was raised and educated in North Carolina.  “I love my home state and the values I learned as a child.  My mother was a hard worker in the church.  She rarely complained when called upon.  I watched her take countless meals to families in crisis and sing in the choir for over 40 years.  Dad worked hard at his job but was always willing to do what he could for the community in which he lived.  The church of my youth was not about pretense or show.  It was about helping people.  Church meant family and community.  It was a way of life.   Mom told us, 'You can’t change the world, but you can change your corner of it.'  To me that means, do what you can, no matter how small.  If we all do our part, we can make a difference.    For the church to prosper in a changing future, we must embrace a vibrant ministry of love and show the world who we are by our actions!"

When Mark graduated from Duke University and served as pastor of a small rural church, the first thing he did was find ways for the church to be more active in the community.  He started a Meals on Wheels program for the community and instituted a shut-in visitation program, a program that extended beyond the church family to embrace the community.  “Soon, I was preaching most of the funerals in the small community and performing many of the weddings.  It didn’t matter that many of these folks were not my members.  They were God’s people.  That is what mattered.”

A few years later in another church, when two men answered the call to teach DISCIPLE Bible Study in a local prison, Mark jumped at the chance to grow the ministry by recruiting more volunteers and opening more prisons to the DISCIPLE ministry. “We offered our first training event for new volunteers, and 70 persons stepped forward.  It was as if a flood gate opened.  People wanted to do ministry.  They were simply waiting for someone to show them how.”  

In 2002 Mark began work on a project to teach the Bible to youth.  This resulted in the RINGS OF FELLOWSHIP Bible study, a program which is active in the youth development centers of NC and beyond. 

Today, hundreds of volunteers have been recruited and trained, and thousands of inmates have taken the prison classes.  It all goes back to one simple concept…ministry.  "Our ministry is about offering God’s love to a world in need.  It is not complicated, but it’s powerful.  I think it is what John Wesley had in mind when he said 'Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.'"

Mark’s ministry vision has moved beyond his home state of North Carolina to other states where affiliate ministries are currently being organized.   “It’s a blessing to work with people with a heart for ministry.  We are one in our unity as the people of Christ.”

Mark married Laura Powell in 1988.  Together they take joy in raising their two teenage daughters.  In addition to ministry, Mark loves the ocean and the coastal environment. “I love the ocean and everything about it.  I feel closest to God when I feel the wind and look at the sea.  I get a real sense of God’s power and majesty standing on the beach.  Only a loving God could create something that beautiful!”   Mark is an avid fisherman and is always hoping for the big one, but still delights in the catch, no matter how small.  Jesus called the fishermen, says Mark, “makes perfect sense to me.”     

 

Laura P. Hicks, Administrator

Laura Hicks serves as the Administrator for Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries.  Laura holds degrees in both Social Work and Information Systems from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  Her work experience includes Presbyterian Homes Incorporated, Moses Cone Health Systems, North Carolina Trust Company and Microsoft Corporation.  She is active in both church and community and enjoys being a mother to two teenage daughters, Sarah and Emily. 

Janet F. Dixon, Thriving Rural Communities  

Janet Dixon serves as liaison between Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries and Duke Endowment's Thriving Rural Communities Initiative.  She was commissioned for ordained ministry at the 2007 session of the WNC Annual Conference and currently serves as a United Methodist pastor.  Janet traces her early recognition of her 'call to ministry' to the DISCIPLE I class she participated in at her home church of Ardmore UMC in Winston-Salem.  After taking three years of DISCIPLE, she began teaching DISCIPLE both at Ardmore and at the Forsyth County Correctional Facility.  She has since taught at Randolph County Correctional as well.  Janet has a Master of Divinity Degree from Duke University, a Master's degree in Christian Education from Pfeiffer University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland.  She has held a number of local church offices and has served as a lay delegate to the annual conference.  She has also held a number of offices in community service organizations. 

Adam Joyce, Duke Divinity School Intern

Born in the Netherlands and raised in the D.C. area, Adam Joyce attended Wheaton College majoring in both business/economics and theological studies.  After graduation he worked on the finance side of a non-profit think tank and volunteered at Offender Aid Restoration in Washington, D.C. Feeling the call to ministry he entered the M.Div program at Duke Divinity School in 2009.  He is currently pursuing ordination within the PCA, and looks forward to working at DBOM for the summer.  

Western North Carolina Conference
Dr. Arnetta Beverly, Greensboro
Mr. Ed Campbell, Lincolnton
Rev. David Christy, Canton
Rev. Phillip Cole, Marion
Rev. Amy Coles, Albemarle
Ms. Jennifer Davis, Charlotte
Rev. Randy Harry, Cashiers
Ms. Patricia Pegram, Charlotte

North Carolina Conference
Mr. Charles Crutchfield, Cary
Mr. Richard Furr, Durham
Dr. Carol Goehring, Raleigh
Mrs. Laurie Jackson, Raleigh
Mr. Jeff Maidment, Laurinburg
Mr. Ernest Pearson, Raleigh
Mrs. Nancy Powell, Raleigh
Rev. Gray Southern, Durham

Advisors
Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, Charlotte
Bishop Alfred W. Gwinn, Jr., Raleigh
Dr. Zan Holmes, Los Angeles, CA
Bishop Richard B. Wilke, Winfield, KS