Full Circle

from The Christian Outlook May/June

by The Pentecostal Assembles of The World - The Christian Outlook

Money Matters

Full

Circle

By Pastor Kameron Adams

y story isn’t uncommon. There are many preachers who have the story of growing up with a childhood that reflected a desire for ministry. I grew up thinking I was the only one who experienced this type of journey. Over time, I discovered I wasn’t alone. To M This was my life as a child. It wasn’t foreign for me to come home from school, take one of my mother’s choir robes, convert my bedroom into a sanctuary with a selfmade pulpit, set up my tons of figurines and have straight church. There were days when mom would be in her hear the stories of those I’ve admired, experienced similar bedroom taking a nap, and my whooping and hollering journeys was very encouraging for me. I always knew I was (which sounded more like screaming) would wake her different, but I couldn’t deny my reality. up. Honestly, my parents would tell you they thought something was wrong with me. They discerned something As a child, preaching is all I did. In fact, my mother went was different about me, but still couldn’t quite understand. into labor while being pregnant with me at church. She To them, my journey was just a phase. Yet, God had a tells me often that there would be times when my spiritual different plan for me, and I wasn’t oblivious to it. father, the early Honorable Bishop Edward C. Roberts would preach, and I would literally start kicking in her womb. I At the age of ten years old I preached my very first guess all of that kicking eventually led to my mother going message at my home church. At age 11, I had my very first into labor at church. As time progressed, I continued as engagement at an AME church. My seventh grade teacher a very young child to display signs. In fact, my father and invited me to come and minister. Many at school—teachers mother both agree that my first word wasn’t “mom” or and students—could recognize my difference. It was “dad,” but it was “preach.” normal for people to call me “Rev,” without even knowing my name. I’ve always fought for normal. I’ve wrestled with Though I was a kid, I do remember the days of coming to my yes that I gave God so eagerly at a young age. I’ve made church with a purple Fischer-Price echo microphone; I also many mistakes along the way. However, I’m a witness to had a toy guitar, and I would bring these items to church all the power of God’s love and mercy. the time. I would stand on the pew bench, leading praise and worship with the praise and worship leader. I directed In 2010, I experienced one of the greatest losses in my life: the choir from that same pew bench. In addition to that, my spiritual father, the Honorable Bishop Edward C. Roberts when Pastor would preach, and get into high gear, guess made his transition. When I received the news, the impact who was preaching and stomping on the bench of the pew of the devastation knocked the wind out of me—literally. It with him. Yes, you guessed right—me. packed greater anxiety on to what I already struggled with in my life due to bullying as a child and low self-esteem.

However, I knew even in the midst of that loss that the Lord was directing my steps away from Charlotte to Kansas City to receive further development and preparation for my future.

I was blessed by God to sit under my recent Pastor, Bishop A. Glenn Brady. There is no denying that journey to Kansas City was necessary for where God was preparing to send me. It grew me up in many ways. It was through this experience that I learned so much. Additionally, I met my beautiful wife while living in Kansas City, who was just visiting with her grandparents, Bishop Theodore and First Lady L. Janice Brooks at the invitation of Bishop Brady for the church’s vision weekend.

I spent 6 and a half years living in Kansas City, MO. However, my burden for my home church, Calvary Christian Church of the Apostolic Faith, Inc., never left. God consistently kept the church, as well as its new Pastor, Mother Betty J. Roberts (the wife of Bishop Roberts) on my heart to cover in prayer. I was in great intercession for the ministry for years. Over time, Mother Roberts retired into the role of Pastor Emerita in 2019, and in February 2021, I was voted in as Pastor of Calvary Christian Church of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. My yes would bring my wife and I on an interesting journey, which would change our lives forever.

One of the things I can proudly say is that I kept my Pastor in the loop with everything. I didn’t leave him in the dark, because I recognized his guidance was paramount. He had been in the place through which I was navigating. In addition to my Pastor, God supplied me with others (Bishops and Pastors) who could also provide necessary wisdom to help me. It is true that there’s “safety in the multitude of counselors” - Proverbs 11:14. In the trusted voices of leaders who were familiar with the journey of a new pastorate, I found wisdom to strengthen my wife and me, which also confirmed much of what the Lord said over the last couple of years.

In our “yes,” God blessed us abundantly. There were moments when we were unsure after saying yes—because with yes comes many attacks—but the Lord has proven Himself to be the sustainer in the midst of pandemic, pain, and uncertainty. My wife received an amazing job offer to become Executive Director of a grassroots community development corporation in Charlotte after job loss. She is now in a position to fulfill community ministry in advocacy and economic development for underserved parts of Charlotte, and I am now brought full circle, pastoring the same church in which I was—quite literally—almost born. When looking back at my journey, at our journey, we cannot take credit. All we can do is say, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it’s marvelous in our eyes”- Psalm 118:23.