Fr. Sam Adams
Greetings, St. James! I am delighted and grateful to join you all for the next six months as your Priest-in-Charge, as you begin discerning God’s call for your next rector. Here is a little bit about myself to help you get to know me:
I am a native Texan, born and raised in Bridge City, a small town between Orange and Port Arthur, right by Louisiana on the Gulf Coast. It’s a land of marshes and bayous, chemical plants and refineries, and plenty of wonderful memories from my childhood.
I went to Texas A&M for my undergraduate degree, where I studied Applied Mathematics. After graduating from A&M, I spent a year in Rwanda working for a Christian relief and development organization. It was, as you can imagine, one of the most transformative experiences of my life, and in many ways set me on the trajectory of the priesthood.
I grew up Southern Baptist and am grateful in many ways for the spiritual formation of my childhood and youth. But upon returning to the US from Rwanda, I began attending an Episcopal Church with some friends, and really never looked back. I was drawn in by the richness and depth of the liturgy, and by the understanding in the Anglican Communion of the Church as a global Body essentially connected in various ways across space and time—what we call “catholic” with a little ‘c’. I was confirmed in The Episcopal Church in April 2009.
After living and working in a number of places over the next couple years, from southeast Texas to South Dakota, I pursued graduate theological studies at Wycliffe College in Toronto, beginning in the Fall of 2011. It was during my time at Wycliffe that I discerned a call to the priesthood (though the Lord had been nudging me that way for a long time). I was ordained to the diaconate on May 31, 2014, shortly after my graduation from Wycliffe, and was ordained to the priesthood December 11 of the same year. Upon graduation from Wycliffe, I was hired as an Associate Rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN, where I worked for five years. I then moved back to Texas and landed in the Diocese of Dallas, serving as Associate Rector at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Denton from June 2019 until the end of 2020.
Throughout the meandering journey that has been my life thus far, I’ve often only seen as into a deep fog when looking forward and trying to discern where the Lord is leading me. But looking back, I see the gracious and providential hand of God guiding me every step of the way. It is that faithful Grace in the midst of my own uncertainty that continues to be one of the most deeply comforting and nourishing ways I experience God’s presence in my life. I wonder how you experience God’s presence most fully. Feel free to share!
In my spare time, I enjoy reading, running, spending time with friends, hiking, birdwatching (a new hobby since the pandemic!), exploring parks and other outdoor spaces, and occasionally pondering how the Church can most faithfully bear witness to the Gospel in our day and age.
I would love to get to know you all as much as possible, so don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and to share your own story!
I am a native Texan, born and raised in Bridge City, a small town between Orange and Port Arthur, right by Louisiana on the Gulf Coast. It’s a land of marshes and bayous, chemical plants and refineries, and plenty of wonderful memories from my childhood.
I went to Texas A&M for my undergraduate degree, where I studied Applied Mathematics. After graduating from A&M, I spent a year in Rwanda working for a Christian relief and development organization. It was, as you can imagine, one of the most transformative experiences of my life, and in many ways set me on the trajectory of the priesthood.
I grew up Southern Baptist and am grateful in many ways for the spiritual formation of my childhood and youth. But upon returning to the US from Rwanda, I began attending an Episcopal Church with some friends, and really never looked back. I was drawn in by the richness and depth of the liturgy, and by the understanding in the Anglican Communion of the Church as a global Body essentially connected in various ways across space and time—what we call “catholic” with a little ‘c’. I was confirmed in The Episcopal Church in April 2009.
After living and working in a number of places over the next couple years, from southeast Texas to South Dakota, I pursued graduate theological studies at Wycliffe College in Toronto, beginning in the Fall of 2011. It was during my time at Wycliffe that I discerned a call to the priesthood (though the Lord had been nudging me that way for a long time). I was ordained to the diaconate on May 31, 2014, shortly after my graduation from Wycliffe, and was ordained to the priesthood December 11 of the same year. Upon graduation from Wycliffe, I was hired as an Associate Rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN, where I worked for five years. I then moved back to Texas and landed in the Diocese of Dallas, serving as Associate Rector at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Denton from June 2019 until the end of 2020.
Throughout the meandering journey that has been my life thus far, I’ve often only seen as into a deep fog when looking forward and trying to discern where the Lord is leading me. But looking back, I see the gracious and providential hand of God guiding me every step of the way. It is that faithful Grace in the midst of my own uncertainty that continues to be one of the most deeply comforting and nourishing ways I experience God’s presence in my life. I wonder how you experience God’s presence most fully. Feel free to share!
In my spare time, I enjoy reading, running, spending time with friends, hiking, birdwatching (a new hobby since the pandemic!), exploring parks and other outdoor spaces, and occasionally pondering how the Church can most faithfully bear witness to the Gospel in our day and age.
I would love to get to know you all as much as possible, so don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and to share your own story!