Having served active duty with the Marine Corps for 10 years, it comes as no surprise that Mark Brown, new headmaster at Faith Presbyterian School, would stress discipline.

But it’s probably not what you would think.

“It’s possible to stress discipline without being a drill instructor,” said Brown, who assumed duties as headmaster for the Robertsdale school, which has about 105 students in grades K through 12, in March. “Everything we do here is centered around prayer and teaching basic Christian fundamentals and discipline just as much a part of that as it is in the military. Discipline is about setting perameters and expecting students to meet those standards.”

While the Atmore native saw his share of combat during his military service, it was his role as a military instructor and administrator in the late 1980s and early 1990s that eventually landed him the job in Robertsdale.

Brown and his wife Kelly have five children, Brianna, 13, Joshua, 11, Marissa, 8, Kayla, 3 and Caleb, 16 months.

Brown and his wife moved to Pensacola in 1992 and after working in the insurance and finance industry, turned to the ministry becoming ordained as a Baptist minister in January of this year.

He serves as minister of the New Bethlehem Baptist Church in Flomaton and comutes back and forth from his home in Pensacola between the church and school.

“I live about halfway between my church and the school, which is nice,” he said. “I actually do less traveling now that when I was in the insurance industry.”

He is also enjoying himself a lot more.

“My wife says I act like I’ve been here my whole life,” Brown said. “I like to say that my worst day here is better than by best day selling insurance.”

While he keeps and active schedule, Brown said both his church and the school have an understanding about his dual role that helps a lot.

“I talked to my deacons before I took this position and they have been doing everything a good deacon should do, with visitations and helping out with the day to day organization of the church,” he said. “At the same time the school board and the people here understand that if I have to conduct a funeral or other duty with the church, I am free to take time off to perform those duties.”

And Brown doesn’t see a conflict between his Baptist ministry and heading up a Presbyterian school.

“I think a lot of people get hung up on being a good Baptist or a good Catholic or a good whatever, and forget to be a good Christian. I haven’t had any of those problems either at the church or the school,” he said. “Fundamentally there are a lot of similarities between Baptists and Presbyterians. It’s really all about presenting good Christian values and preparing students for the challenges they’re going to face in life.”

Indeed Brown is excited about the future with the addition of several new classes next year, including reintroducing Latin, while adding theology, church history and apologetics, along with marine biology.

For those unfamiliary with apologetics, Brown said, the subject deals with understanding the basic roots of Christianity and how to defend those beliefs.

“As Christians we are constantly challenged about what we believe,” he said. “It’s all about being able to defend our faith in an ever-widening global society.”