Lead Pastor, Ishmael Wade
Pastor Ishmael Spencer Wade is happily married to the lovely and former, Brittany Jenkins, and is a native of Columbia, SC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Community and Organizational Leadership from Columbia College and a Master of Divinity from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. As of January 9, 2021, he became the new lead pastor of the Campostella Heights Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norfolk, VA.
Even though Pastor Wade grew up in the church, it wasn’t until after graduating high school that he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. From the day he decided to follow Christ he developed a passion for preaching and leading others into a deeper relationship with the Lord. During his studies at seminary, he served as a pastoral student-intern at Beverly Hills SDA Church in Chicago, co-secretary of the Seminary Student Forum, and as a member of the executive committee of the Black Student Association of the Seminary. After seminary, he served as assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church (Washington, DC), where his responsibilities included overseeing the Total Membership Involvement initiative which strategically connected members to the various ministries of the church, and the Spiritual Mentorship ministry which helped new members easily assimilate into the church community.
Pastor Wade enjoys playing chess, music, NBA basketball, reading, and going on dates with his wife. An emerging young voice among biblical communicators, Pastor Wade is a strong believer in the transforming power of God’s grace. That is why his favorite text is 1 Corinthians 15:10; “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
