Rev. Mark Pettis

I joined Avon Lake UCC as the Senior Minister in February 2025. I am so excited to be here and to work with such an amazing staff and collection of lay leaders!

Before coming to Avon Lake, I served for four years as the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Minister for the National setting of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland. Prior to my time with the national setting, I served as Senior Minister of the Manhattan Beach Community Church (UCC) in the Los Angeles, CA area, and before that as Pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moorhead, MN. My first career out of college was in government, serving two different members of the California State Assembly, and then working in public affairs consulting and government/media relations in Southern California.

The son of two UCC ministers, my family moved from New England to San Diego County when I was nine. I graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, CA. After a 10-year career in government and consulting, I followed a call to seminary at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, KY. Currently, I am pursuing my Doctor of Ministry in Missiology and Global Christianity at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, NJ. I am married to the Rev. Dr. Elena Larssen, who is also an ordained UCC minister, and we live in the Edgewater neighborhood of Cleveland. We fill our free time with the activities of our son, Thomas, traveling, and spending time with our wonderful basset hound, Winston.