MARY JACKS DYNES

Mary Jacks Dynes is a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles, the leading missionary quorum of the Community of Christ. She was ordained to the Council of Twelve in April 2002 and is currently assigned to the Canada/North Central (USA) Mission Field, which includes Canada East Mission Centre and Canada West Mission Centre, Headwaters USA/Canada Mission Center, Lamoni Heartland USA Mission Center, and Prairie Bluffs Mission Center. She received this assignment in April 2007.  She currently is on the faculty of the Community of Christ Seminary where she teaches Mission and Evangelism.

She has been a full-time minister since 1993 being the first female appointee. Her previous assignments include serving as consultant and regional administrator for the Pacific Northwest Region and the Alaska Development Area, and as president of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy.

Prior to accepting full-time ministerial responsibilities, Dynes was a teacher/counselor at the Ridgefield High School. She has a B.A. from Graceland College, Lamoni, Iowa, in Spanish, English, and American literature; an M.A. in counseling psychology from Lewis and Clark, Portland, Oregon; and an M.A. in theology from the University of Portland, Portland, Oregon.  She received a doctorate of ministry in May 2000 in the area of “Evangelism for the 21st Century” at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.

Dynes has served the church in various positions of leadership such as presiding elder, women’s ministries leader, congregational and regional youth leader, and regional missionary outreach director.

Mary Jacks Dynes has two children, Benjamin and Liza, two granddaughters, Emily and Emma, and two grandsons, Ryan and William David, named after her late husband, David.

Community of Christ International Headquarters is located in Independence, Missouri.