When Adam McIntosh was ordained as Pastor of Saint David’s Church (CREC) in Houston on June 11, 2017, it was the culmination of decades of preparation. Adam is the product of two continents and three Christian traditions.

Born in Paducah, Kentucky, he lived his early years partly in Jericho, where his father had planted a church. He saw “God’s goodness and power” demonstrated in his father’s ministry. As he looks back, realizes that the experience on the mission field was “very formative to my faith.” Two continents.

In his late teen years, Adam began working for the retail chains, Aldi and Lowe’s, but his real passion was music. “I play guitar, sing, and write songs,” he told Theopolis. “I started a band that would last five years, playing locally and regionally.”

During his childhood, his family attended a non-denominational charismatic church, pastored by David Cassidy. As Pastor Cassidy’s theology turned reformational, so did Adam’s. Adam discovered his love for teaching while attending a Missouri Synod Lutheran church, and studied for several years under Pastor Cassidy, who by that time had become a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America.

In 2012, Adam took a post as an intern under Pastor Burke Shade at Cornerstone Reformed Church (CREC) in Carbondale, Illinois. Eventually Cornerstone hired him as a fulltime pastor’s assistant and deacon, which gave him an opportunity to preach, teach, lead worship, visit the sick, perform funerals, counsel, and help with church administration. Three traditions – charismatic, Lutheran, and Reformed.

Adam began attending Theopolis courses in 2014, and completed his certificate last year. “My most satisfying academic work has been achieved at Theopolis,” he said.

His training at Theopolis will shape his ministry in the years to come. From his courses, he learns to see the “centrality of ritual in Christian worship, which begins with baptism and climaxes at the Lord’s table.”

“Theopolis has shaped me to view denominational division as something to be overcome, not something to be protected,” he explained. “Sharing the table with baptized trinitarians of all stripes is the first step to greater unity in the church.” These convictions, Adam says, “will be at the forefront of my pastoral ministry.”