Born to Carlos Frank Martinez and Susan Doloras Kennedy, and shortly thereafter given up for adoption via Catholic Charities to Mike and Corinne McLellan; Mark McLellan was raised in a profoundly devout Catholic home and community. He attended twelve years of parochial schooling and religious training. In spite of a loving, moral and ethical, religious upbringing, like most he turned to the world to pursue what it offered. He experienced the emptiness, and the guilt and shame of self-absorption at an early age. He discovered that self-indulgence and independence from God always and only leads to pain and misery. By the age of eighteen, Pastor McLellan had a personal encounter with Yeshua, which would change his life forever. He responded to the sovereignty and grace of Yeshua and as a result was born again. After being baptized in His name, Pastor McLellan embraced the Jewish roots of his faith and began His journey back to the Jewish Scriptures as the framework for how he would live out his newfound faith. His life verse is Isaiah 41:10-16 which contains the words:
Look, I am making you into a sharp, new threshing sledge with double-edged blades. You will thresh mountains and crush them. You will turn hills into chaff. You will winnow them, and a wind will lift them up. A strong wind will scatter them. But you, you will rejoice in the Lord. In the Holy One of Israel you will be confident.
Pastor McLellan is the son of a blue-collar worker and spent 20 years as a blue-collar worker himself before he answered the call to go and prophesy. He has since recruited, shaped, raised up, and led multiple leaders in birthing and establishing a vibrant Messianic congregation in the Denver Metro area. He is an influential voice crying out in the wilderness of lawlessness, return to ancient paths where there is meaning, blessing, and fulfillment. He has been married to Pastor Dawn McLellan, the wife of his youth, since August 10th of 1980. He has two wonderful daughters who lead high impact ministries. Pastor McLellan has served as Senior Pastor and CEO of The Harvest Ministries since 1994.