After eight years on the Albert Lea City Council, the Rev. George Marin of Grace Christian Church is now focusing all of his efforts on his family and his church.

“With our ministry being able to grow now, I just felt like I wanted to devote more time to my children,” George said. “My wife and kids have worked every campaign with me.”

His two children are ages 14 and 16 — which is what George called a “very critical point in their lives,” and he didn’t want to pull from their lives anymore.

His wife, Jill, an Albert Lea School Board member, is back in school studying psychology, and George said he also wants to be able to focus on mentoring leaders in Albert Lea and at their churches in San Diego and Macedonia.

“As a young pastor, I couldn’t see why God had called me to be a pastor because I didn’t feel like I really had anything to say,” George said. “Now I feel like God has matured us and grown us that we have something to give. It’s important for me to pass on the things we’ve learned.”

The pastor said deciding not to seek re-election was a big decision for his family.

“It was fulfilling for me,” he said. “I felt like it was something God wanted me to do as part of our ministry.”

But at the same time, being able to have more time back to spend with the family has been rewarding, he said. They have developed a history in this area.

The couple moved to Albert Lea 16 years ago after George was invited to be a pastor at a different church in town. When that didn’t work out, it was the beginning of Grace Christian Church.

Their son was 3 weeks old at the time, and George had to work four jobs to support their family, he said. They had just moved from Lafayette, Ind., where he was a youth pastor. He’s originally from San Diego.

The congregation met at 501 W. College St. — where they still meet today — with about seven people. Over the years it has grown to about 80.

George, a third-generation pastor, said he received his call to ministry when he was 14 years old, he said.

“I didn’t want to go into ministry, but I felt that calling so strongly upon my life,” he said. “I promised God if that’s what I was supposed to do in life, I’d do it.”

Jill, whose family growing up was not into ministry at all, said she joined a church in California, where George was at the time. They met, and within a year they were married. They are both now pastors.

The couple said they believe that everything that’s ever happened in their lives has prepared them for their ministry in Albert Lea.

“I know I’m exactly where God has called me,” George said. “No matter where we travel in the world, I’ve never seen a city more beautiful than Albert Lea. It has become home, and we love it here.”

He said he thinks the church’s ministry helps fill a niche of ministering to people who have nowhere else to go.

“We minister to drunks, addicts, inmates,” he said. “We believe that our specialty is ministering to the hurting.”

Aside from their Sunday congregation, the church also has several other ministries.

They have a vibrant jail ministry called “Behind the Walls” at the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center, where they give two services a week for women and two services a week for men, George said. The flavor of those services is powerful with uplifting music and hard-hitting messages.

They also have a kids church that meets every Friday night with a different pastor. That congregation has a different pastor and usually includes about 15 to 40 children. The church sends out three vans to pick up the kids, and the children enjoy praise, worship, music, games and prizes.

In the summer there is a mobile ministry unit run by the youth, that puts on four shows around the city.

There’s also the mobile ministry in the church’s 48-foot semi, which is fully equipped with lights, sound and a canopy. It seats 900.

“We never want to wait to be a big church to do big things because we serve the big God,” George said. “He supplies for the work we do.”

The church and its people believe in “living Christianity out loud and taking it to the streets,” he said.

“Jesus said you’re the light of the world, you’re the salt of the earth, and everywhere we go — it doesn’t matter whether you’re an elected official or a preacher — if you’re a Christian, you’re light should be shining,” George said.

With that philosophy in mind, the church has also taken trips to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Diego — where George is from. Overseas they’ve gone to Macedonia, where they have a mission, to do teaching, ministering and other humanitarian work.

They stay there about 15 days and minister in eight major cities and many villages.

In addition, George and Jill are both chaplains at Fountain Centers, where they go every week to visit with patients. They also make it a point to strengthen the smaller churches that are starting. After all, they used to be in the same shoes.

“The theme of our ministry is serving the Lord by serving people,” he said. “That could be anything from serving as a chaplain, tying someone’s shoe or wiping their nose.”

The pastor said he believes in hard work, disciplining your life and staying busy and productive.

“And just helping people however you can,” Jill added. “In life nothing is more important than serving the Lord and serving people.”