Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prohpet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

Dr. Mark J. Montgomery's Biography

Pastor Mark Montgomery was raised in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. He graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1977, and then received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin. Following his training, he served as the Youth Pastor/Music Director at Grace Baptist Church in Marion, Iowa from 1982-1987. During that time he also taught some Junior High and High School courses at Grace Baptist School, and served for two years as the school administrator. In 1988 he accepted the call to the pastorate of Court Street Baptist Church in Port Huron, Michigan, where he served for nearly ten years. In 1997, God began to challenge his heart concerning returning to the Pittsburgh area to start an Independent, Fundamental Baptist Church. On January 2, 1998, he and his family left Port Huron, and began preparations for the new work in Pittsburgh. Ambassador Baptist Church held its first Sunday services on September 20, 1998. Since then, in addition to leading Ambassador Baptist, Pastor Montgomery has continued his seminary studies, and he received his Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in 2002 from Northland Baptist Bible College. He currently serves on the board of directors of Baptist Church Planting Ministry (www.bcpm.org) , and is the president of Western Pennsylvania Theological Institute, which is located in New Kensington.

Pastor Montgomery met his wife, the former Karen Isaacs of Hudson, Wisconsin, when they both sang in the college choir. They were married in 1981, and have five children: Kristen, age 22, (currently a student in the Directed Studies Program at Landmark Baptist College who is also serving as a short-term missionary to India and Myanmar); Rhonda, age 19 (a student at Western Pennsylvania Theological Institute, and currently serving with a missionary family in Quebec City, Quebec); Michelle, age 14; Marissa, age 9; and Joel, age 6. Both Kristen and Rhonda were home-schooled for their entire education, and Karen continues to teach Michelle, Marissa, and Joel at home.