Mark Buchanan is a Canadian pastor, author, and seminary professor best known for his bestselling book The Rest of God and his decades of ministry on Vancouver Island before moving into theological education. Raised in a home with no faith background in southern Alberta, Buchanan came to Christ as a teenager and went on to become one of Canada’s most widely read Christian authors, writing more than ten books on Sabbath, spiritual rhythm, and following Jesus in an overbusy world.
[IMAGE: Mark Buchanan teaching at Ambrose University Calgary]
Mark Buchanan at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mark A. Buchanan |
| Born | circa 1960–61, Alberta, Canada |
| Age | Approximately 65 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Spouse | Cheryl Buchanan |
| Children | Three: Adam, Sarah, and Nicola |
| Education | |
| Undergraduate | University of British Columbia |
| Theological training | Regent College |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology |
| Institution | Ambrose University, Calgary, Alberta |
| Former church | New Life Community Baptist Church, Duncan, British Columbia |
| Career | |
| Books | 10+, including The Rest of God and Your God Is Too Safe |
A Note Before We Begin: Which Mark Buchanan?
Search results for “Mark Buchanan” pull together at least three different people who have nothing to do with one another. This article covers the Canadian pastor and author of The Rest of God. It does not cover Mark Buchanan the theoretical physicist and science writer, author of Ubiquity, or Marc Buchanan, the Detroit fashion designer behind the Pelle Pelle leather-jacket brand. The pastor himself has addressed this mix-up directly, writing in his own author bio, “For the record, I’m not the Mark Buchanan who writes science books.”
Where Is Buchanan From?
Mark Buchanan grew up in southern Alberta, Canada, in a household with no real religious footing. He has described his upbringing candidly, saying his father was a recovering alcoholic who identified, depending on the day, as an atheist or agnostic, while his mother chased a rotating cast of gurus and spiritual teachers that never quite landed anywhere. Buchanan has called it a “pagan family,” using the term simply to mean a home without any settled Christian faith.
[IMAGE: Southern Alberta prairie landscape]
Early Life and Coming to Faith
Everything changed for Buchanan at age 16. A small group of Christian women, including the mother of his best friend, visited his home and began talking with him and his mother about faith. That encounter set off a spiritual search that eventually led Buchanan to commit his life to Christ, a striking turn for a teenager who, by his own account, had spent his childhood echoing his father’s skepticism.
He went on to study at the University of British Columbia before completing theological training at Regent College, a well-known evangelical graduate school in Vancouver associated with names like J.I. Packer and Eugene Peterson.
Ministry Career and Professional Journey
Pastoring on Vancouver Island
Buchanan spent many years as lead pastor of New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, British Columbia, a mid-sized Vancouver Island town known for its heritage buildings and significant First Nations population. Visitors to the church during his tenure described his preaching style as conversational and approachable, but also deeply emotional and personally invested in the message he was delivering, rather than simply performing a Sunday routine.
[IMAGE: New Life Community Baptist Church Duncan British Columbia]
Move to Ambrose University
After years of pastoral ministry, Buchanan resigned his position at New Life Community Baptist Church to become Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta. Ambrose, affiliated with both the Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Church of the Nazarene, trains students for pastoral ministry and related fields. The move marked a shift from local church leadership to shaping the next generation of pastors directly in the classroom, a transition Buchanan has described as significant but not a departure from his calling, simply a new expression of it.
Mark Buchanan’s Denomination
Buchanan’s ministry background sits within the broader evangelical Baptist tradition, having pastored a Baptist congregation for years on Vancouver Island. His current academic post at Ambrose University connects him to the Christian and Missionary Alliance and Nazarene traditions, though he is best described simply as an evangelical Christian pastor and theologian rather than tied permanently to one denominational label.
Mark Buchanan’s Theology
Buchanan’s writing consistently returns to a handful of core convictions: that modern life has crowded out rest, stillness, and attentiveness to God, and that recovering practices like Sabbath-keeping is not a legalistic exercise but a doorway back into genuine relationship with God. In Your God Is Too Safe, he pushes back against a domesticated, low-stakes version of Christianity, arguing that following Jesus should upend a comfortable life rather than simply decorate it.
He has also written pointedly about doubt, arguing in his own words that doubting is sometimes not the opposite of faith but an expression of it, an insistence that faith be taken seriously rather than treated as a set of tricks. That theme, doubt as a form of honesty rather than failure, runs through several of his books and reflects a pastor who spent his own adolescence moving from unbelief to faith rather than being raised inside it.
Mark Buchanan’s Books
Buchanan has written more than ten books, most drawing directly from his pastoral experience and his own spiritual journey.
- Your God Is Too Safe — a challenge to comfortable, low-risk Christianity.
- Things Unseen — on living with eternity in view.
- The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God.
- The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath — his most widely read book, exploring how recovering Sabbath rest reconnects believers with God’s own rhythm of work and rest.
- Hidden in Plain Sight and Spiritual Rhythm.
- God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul, a more recent release exploring walking as a spiritual practice.
He has also begun writing fiction, including a novel titled Shelter Me, set among Protestant villages in southeast France during the Second World War.
The Rest of God: Buchanan’s Best-Known Work
Of all his books, The Rest of God remains Buchanan’s most recognized contribution. The book argues that modern life, even Christian life, has lost touch with genuine rest, replacing it with busyness dressed up as productivity or even ministry. Buchanan connects the biblical practice of Sabbath directly to spiritual and emotional health, arguing that restoring a weekly rhythm of stillness is essential to full humanity, not an optional extra for the especially devout. The book has become a standard recommendation in conversations about burnout, overwork, and Christian rest, and continues to sell well more than fifteen years after its release.
Personal Life
Buchanan is married to Cheryl, and the couple has three adult children: Adam, Sarah, and Nicola. He has spoken about enjoying scuba diving, motorcycles, fishing, and playing guitar, occasionally in front of an audience, alongside quieter pursuits like reading by a fire or walking deep into the wilderness. He has described himself simply as “a husband and father, a brother and a friend,” a modest self-description for someone whose books have reached readers well beyond Canada.
Influence and Legacy
Buchanan’s writing has shaped how a generation of evangelical readers think about rest, doubt, and spiritual practice, with The Rest of God in particular becoming a touchstone book on Christian Sabbath-keeping. His shift from pastoring to teaching pastoral theology at Ambrose University has extended that influence directly into the training of new pastors, giving his ideas about rest and honest faith a second life in the classroom.
Interesting Facts About Mark Buchanan
- He grew up in a home with no religious background and didn’t come to faith until age 16.
- He has publicly clarified that he is not the physicist Mark Buchanan who writes about chaos theory and catastrophe science.
- He left full-time pastoral ministry to teach the next generation of pastors at Ambrose University.
- Beyond writing nonfiction, he has moved into fiction, working on a novel set in WWII-era France.
- He enjoys scuba diving and riding motorcycles alongside quieter pursuits like wilderness walking.
Mark Buchanan Timeline
| Period | Event |
|---|---|
| ~1960–61 | Born in Alberta, Canada |
| Age 16 | Comes to faith in Christ after being visited by a group of Christian women |
| Post-college | Studies at the University of British Columbia and Regent College |
| Pastoral years | Serves as lead pastor of New Life Community Baptist Church, Duncan, BC |
| 2006 | Publishes The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath |
| 2010s | Resigns pastorate; becomes Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose University |
| Recent | Publishes God Walk; continues writing fiction |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Mark Buchanan?
He is a Canadian pastor, author, and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, best known for his book The Rest of God.
Where is Buchanan from?
He grew up in southern Alberta, Canada, in a home without any established religious faith.
What is Mark Buchanan’s denomination?
He pastored a Baptist congregation on Vancouver Island for years and now teaches at Ambrose University, which is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Church of the Nazarene. He’s best described as an evangelical Christian pastor and theologian.
What church did Mark Buchanan pastor?
New Life Community Baptist Church in Duncan, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island.
Is Mark Buchanan a physicist?
No. A different person, also named Mark Buchanan, is a theoretical physicist and science writer known for the book Ubiquity. The pastor covered in this article has publicly clarified he is not that Mark Buchanan.
What books has Mark Buchanan written?
His best-known titles include The Rest of God, Your God Is Too Safe, The Holy Wild, Spiritual Rhythm, and God Walk.
Is Mark Buchanan connected to the Pelle Pelle clothing brand?
No. That brand was founded by a different person, Marc Buchanan, a Detroit-based fashion designer with no connection to the Canadian pastor and author.
