Mark Parsons, a retired pastor from Jamestown who now lives in Buffalo, and does magic for kids. Submitted photo

Retired local pastor, Mark Parsons, is still looking to keep active with the community.

Parsons, who retired last year at the end of June and has since moved to the Buffalo area, said that keeping connected to both this community and his new community is something he still tries to do. One of the ways he does this is through magic.

Parsons served at Camp Street United Methodist Church in Jamestown for 15 years. Following that he spent 12 years at a church in Mayville and then Dewittville-Hartfield United Methodist Church. During his time in Jamestown Parsons also participated with the Kiwanis Club and helped the Salvation Army give free gifts to the children, which for him was a magic show.

Parsons said he began working with magic after college.

“After college I lived in Austria,” Parsons said. “In Vienna, together with my friends, we would go down to the pedestrian walk, where we would talk to people and try to get them to come to church. We tried this in different ways, and I said since I couldn’t play the guitar I decided to do street magic.”

There are a few different types of magic, Parsons said. While he started with street magic, the magic he would do in church qualifies as cabaret magic. Parsons said he has done all kinds of magic, but it has always been kid friendly because he most enjoys working with kids.

These days, after moving to the Buffalo area, Parsons has joined three gyms and two churches. He moved to the area to be closer to his family. Parsons has three daughters and seven grandchildren, including two four month old twins. He said that while he has ideas to do other things after retirement, most of his time is dedicated to his family.

Something Parsons would like to try to do again is get involved in jail ministry. This is something he did during his time in Mayville, but he said he has not had a chance to connect to any of the jails in his area because he has been dedicated to his grandchildren.

Parsons is also looking to get involved with youth again.

“I was involved with Footsteps for 30 years, and I was able to go back to Mayville and do it again last year,” Parsons said. “It’s a three day spiritual, youth-led weekend. It was able to survive through COVID, and I’m happy we were able to do it again.”

Parsons has also been participating in carving and water painting classes, saying he is always looking to try new things.

For Parsons, his proudest achievement has been being involved in ministry for 37 years, and that he has been able to keep his family involved as well.

“Part of my goal has been to help people take Jesus seriously and live with Christ,” Parsons said. “It hurts my heart when the minister’s children don’t walk with God. I’m proud to say that all of my children and grandchildren do. Everyone makes their own choices, but it is a joy for me that all of my kids do.”

With his experience of growing up as a missionary kid in Japan, Parsons said he also enjoys working with youth, especially since he said today’s culture and especially high school can be confusing and cruel.

Parsons and his family have also been back to the area since moving away. Their goal is to come back to kayak on Chautauqua Lake. Another goal of Parsons is to return to Chautauqua Institution to visit, where he worked for 14 years giving a park tour.

“There is a recreation and full scale map of Palestine and the Holy Land,” Parsons said. “It also shows the land by the Jordan River. I worked there giving tours for 14 years and while someone else does it now, I always thought it was fun and would like to visit that again.”

While he is retired and no longer has to work, Parsons said he still has much he wants to do.

“When you retire they tell you it’s go, go, go, slow, slow, slow, no, no, no,” Parsons said. “I’m still at the go, go, go stage. I’m still healthy and able to invest my time in my church and kids’ lives. I don’t have to work but I can still help my community. I have always respected people in my church who are retired and still try to help the community. I look forward to making a difference where I am.”

Growing up, Parsons said he was always wondering what he could do to make a difference. This is something he thought all youth feel in one way or another.

“Young people need to dream,” Parsons said. “They are always looking for where they can make a difference. For me it is being committed to telling people about Jesus. They used to pay me for that, but I hope to still be able to continue to do that and the work that God has made possible.”