Luke Schlenker

Meet Luke

I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico in home with parents and siblings who were followers of Christ and active in the local church. While I grew up learning about the Bible and who Jesus was, it wasn’t until middle-school through the youth ministry at our church that I grasped the reality of my sin and need for a savior. Sin had made me guilty and separated me from God, but by his grace I have come to know Jesus Christ, the one who came into this world, lived the perfect life I couldn’t, died the death I deserved, and rose again to offer new life which I now get to walk in. Throughout high-school, college, and now as an adult, God has continually been at work to mature my faith and fall deeper in love with him.

My plan was not to go into vocational ministry as a business major and administrative assistant during my time at Dallas Baptist University. Fortunately, while at DBU I became a member here at Watermark, and better yet, I met my wife Merci at the Watermark college Christmas party in 2017. Through serving in the college ministry and organizing different short-term mission trips, God was enlarging my heart for the church. Upon graduating the Spirit began to lead me down a pathway into vocational ministry.

After DBU, I attended the Kanakuk Institute in Branson, MO. From there I was brought on to oversee missions and multiplication for church north of San Antonio for nearly three years before they sent me out in the winter of 2022 to serve with a recent church plant in San Marcos, Texas. For four and a half years, I served as the Executive Minister and then Pastor of that church where I oversaw the church’s ministries and operations. Church planting was an incredibly hard and beautiful gift that I cannot be more thankful to have been a part of with my family.

During those years, I completed my graduate studies at Western Seminary. Merci and I first became parents in 2022 and are now blessed with a daughter and son. Through a God’s providence, a growing urge to move back to DFW aligned with an opportunity to return to Watermark and serve alongside some longtime friends in a church we already know, love, and trust. I am passionate about the local church and feel incredibly privileged to give my life to its well-being and the continuation of making disciples together.