Mark Vroegop has been appointed as the new President of evangelical network The Gospel Coalition (TGC).
Vroegop, who has pastored College Park Church in Indiana for nearly two decades, is a current TGC council member and board member. He was unanimously elected, and will be the third President of TGC, taking over from interim President Sandy Wilson.
Wilson describes Vroegop as a man of ‘sterling moral character’ who is ‘exactly what we need to lead TGC’s mission to renew and unify the contemporary church in the ancient gospel.’
TGC Board Chairman Juan Sánchez commented, ‘What’s most exciting about Mark’s appointment is his deep love for the local church and his heart for pastors.’
Vroegop was raised in a Christian home. In a recent interview with theologian Ligon Duncan, he recalls how he first came to faith: 'There was a big wood behind our house,' he said. 'After hearing the gospel presentation so clearly, and feeling a deep conviction of my own need and a sense of God's drawing, I walked out into the woods unconverted, and came back converted.'
'What's interesting is in the same moment that I gave my heart and life to Jesus, I also felt a clear call to gospel ministry,' he added.
Vroegop went on to study as an undergraduate at Cedarville University and as a postgraduate at Cornerstone Theological Seminary. In 1996 at age 25, he became a Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Michigan, before going on to serve as the Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis in 2008.
'Theology matters when the bottom falls out of your life.'
In the course of his career, he has authored multiple books, including Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy and Weep with Me - which both consider the topic of lament.
Speaking to how he has learnt 'the language of lament' in his interview with Duncan, he shared of how he and his wife, Sarah, endured a stillbirth in 2004 and subsequently battled with miscarriage.
'That was a test of my theology, and my perseverance, and of my belief in God's ability to help sustain us through some of the darkest moments,' he said. 'It was through that that the Lord tuned my heart to the language of lament. And so I've spent a lot of time in the last six or seven years unpacking that language and seeing the way in which God meets us in our darkest hours - and that our theology matters when the bottom falls out of your life.'
He and his wife have three sons, a daughter, and two grandchildren.
