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Ready to make his mark

People

Serving on committees that help govern the Archdiocese’s operations is one way Brighton parishioner Mark Booth is “giving back” to the local Church.

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At the start of the year the 59-year-old management consultant was appointed to the Diocesan Finance Council and in June took over as chair. Prior to this he had served as chair of the Cathedral Restoration Appeal Committee, taking over from construction industry leader Jim Whiting.

“My involvement with Church governance started when Jim asked me to come on the Cathedral Restoration Appeal Committee and after about two meetings he said I should chair it because he was too busy,” Mark laughed.

“But I really enjoyed being on the committee so when I was asked to go on the Finance Council I thought it was a nice idea and a way to give something back.

“I am keen to make a contribution if I can, to help ensure that the Church is well governed from a financial perspective.”

Mark said he was still learning about the operations of the Archdiocese and the “complexities that go with it”.

“The Church operates differently to business so you have to respect the rhythms of pastoral requirements,” he said.

“For example, Catholic Education is so large when you start to unpack it. There are some real growth areas there – such as in the early learning sphere – which I think is quite exciting for the education sector.”

Married to Jo, with three adult sons who all attended Sacred Heart College, Mark said his Catholic faith had been instilled in him by his late mum and grandmother while growing up in the United Kingdom.

“Faith was very important to Mum and my grandmother, who was Irish by birth. Growing up when my brother Duncan and I stayed with our grandmother she’d walk with us to church every Sunday morning.”

When he was 10, Mark’s family moved to New Zealand and three years later emigrated to Australia, settling in Adelaide. Mark attended Salesian College and went on to complete a Bachelor of Business and a Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of SA.

With an extensive background in senior management roles in local government and the private sector, Mark established a small commercial advisory company in 1995. Its work is primarily in the legal, local government and waste management sectors.

In his spare time Mark enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking along the beach with Jo and their Rhodesian Ridgeback dog and getting out for a bike ride.

Earlier this year he joined a group of 16 like-minded men who completed a ride from Nuriootpa to Broken Hill.

“We slept in swags and rode our bikes to Broken Hill for the St Patrick’s Day races, while raising some money for cancer research along the way,” he said.

“It was really about a group of people who had common friends and liked spending time outdoors…we rode about 100km each day, mainly on the trails next to the train line.”

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