Dr. Phillip L. Pointer, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Saint Mark Baptist Church, one of the largest Baptist churches in the state of Arkansas. Raised in the Greater Washington D.C. area, Pastor Pointer would become a fourth generation Baptist pastor, coming from a dual line of Baptist pastors that runs on both sides of his family. He accepted the divine call to preach at the age of twelve and was provided ample opportunity to gain experience preaching the Gospel under the direct mentorship of his father. Over the years, Pastor Pointer developed a particular passion for empowering God’s people to develop a deep understanding and application of the biblical text.

Having now served as a Senior Pastor for 15 years, Pastor Pointer’s journey as a pastor began in October 2002 with an assignment at St. John Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. After three years, in October 2005, he led the merger between St. John Baptist Church and Providence Baptist Church. This historical consummation formed the Providence St. John Baptist Church. During his tenure there, Pastor Pointer transitioned the traditional congregation to a progressive place of worship. He cultivated a style that was Bible-based and Holy Spirit-guided yet retained the essential historical elements of Baptist polity and beliefs. In conjunction with fostering the spiritual growth and advancement of St. John, Pastor Pointer also earned a Master of Divinity Degree with honors from The Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.

After ten rewarding years of leadership at St. John, Pastor Pointer received his next call from God that brought him to his current assignment at Saint Mark Baptist Church. Since his arrival, he has taken the congregation to new heights in the area of contextual understanding of God’s Word all while fostering the membership's consistent spiritual growth and maturity. Concurrently, in December 2014, Pastor Pointer earned a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. His doctoral study emphasis was “Preaching Prophetically in a Postmodern Culture: Communicating with Contemporary Audiences.”

Pastor Pointer has grown the Saint Mark ministry by leaps and bounds, achieving major installments of community outreach offerings such as job fairs, financial stewardship classes, record expungement seminars, and food drives. He also led a campaign for the Children & Youth Center, a three-level building equipped with the latest technology to best educate and spiritually nurture our youth. In addition, Pastor Pointer led the formation of the Tendaji Community Development Corporation, which provides outreach programs and initiatives that support the entire Little Rock community such as Program IMPACT, an after-school program for elementary students, and Reclaiming Scholars, an alternative suspension program for middle and high school students.

Dr. Pointer resides in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife, Keya, and their three children: Gabriela, Phillip, Jr., and Elijah.