Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of North Shore
Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
EP #82 The Gospel is Free - No Halos Required: Pastor Adams Says Come As You Are to East Baptist Church
What happens when a Welsh pastor follows love across the ocean and lands in Lynn, Massachusetts? Pastor Kevin Adams of East Baptist Church shares his remarkable 21-year journey in ministry and the wisdom he’s gained along the way. With refreshing candor and humor, he dismantles the myth that religious leaders are somehow less human than everyone else. “They expect me to be a sort of angel with wings,” he laughs, but instead he offers authenticity—leading a congregation of “broken angels trying to fly in the right direction, though they’ve got broken wings and most have lost their halos.” His passion for reconciliation and forgiveness, along with a love for classic literature and the “old-fashioned gospel,” creates a space where questions are welcomed and faith is explored without judgment.
East Baptist Church, founded in 1874 and rooted in its current location since 1961, stands as a beacon of enduring faith with contemporary relevance. “The gospel is free,” Pastor Adams reminds us, “Jesus bought it on the cross and hands it to people.” His invitation is simple and heartfelt: come as you are, no pressure, all welcome. Visit eastbaptist.org or join Sunday services at 10:45 AM to experience this warm, authentic community firsthand.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Yuan Godfrey.
SPEAKER_00:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today I have the distinct pleasure to introduce to our listeners Pastor Kevin Adams. He is the pastor for East Baptist Church in the city of Lynn. He's been pastoring for over 21 years, and we're so thrilled to have him with us today. Pastor Adams, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER_02:I am doing very well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00:Wonderful to hear. Can you please tell our listeners about East Baptist Church?
SPEAKER_02:We started in 1874. How about that for an old church? But where we are now on 300 Western Avenue, uh, we've been there since 1961. So with an old established church uh in uh in Lynn with a brand, well not a brand new message, an old message which is contemporary.
SPEAKER_00:Beautiful, beautiful. Love the enthusiasm as well. So, Pastor Adams, what's the backstory? How did you get involved in pastorialship and become the pastor of East Baptist Church?
SPEAKER_02:I became a Christian in 1974, but way back in Wales, 50 something years ago, got involved in Christian work, uh evangelist, etc. etc. Then was a pastor for 18 years in in South Wales, came over here, fell desperately in love with this woman, and uh she kept me here. So I came over in 2004, and uh I have stayed here ever since, and for some reason, this church took me and loved me, and I love them as well. How about that? It's a love story, it's a love story, you know, and it's a God's providence story in love. People love those stories.
SPEAKER_00:I love it, I love it. She sounds like a real blessed woman, not a lucky woman, but a blessed woman.
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah, yeah, she bears with me. Yeah, I think God sent her for training. She I think God was wanting to give her patience, so she sent me, but there we are.
SPEAKER_00:So, what are some myths in um pastorial ship that you have experienced over the years?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, all the big myth, of course, is that the pastor is not human but sort of divine, and um, I love it when I go and and meet friends or meet new people in situations they don't expect me. So I go to the pub on a regular basis and I start talking to people, and uh, and then I ask them what they do, and uh having talked to them for half an hour or so, uh they ask me, and and then I say, Oh, I'm a pastor of a church, and they go, Oh, yeah, oh, and they expect me to be a sort of angel with wings, you know, painted by Frau Angelico, the great uh the great Italian Renaissance painter, but I'm not, I'm a human being created in the image of God, of course, uh, and wanting to share uh naturally the gospel of Jesus. So we're very real people. That's that's the big thing, the big thing people get wrong. They think we're something else, and we're not.
SPEAKER_00:Very interesting, very interesting, Pastor Adams. Um, very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. And you know, it resonates with a lot of uh listeners who you know hear your um hear your candid response.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Well, that's it, that's the truth. So there we are.
SPEAKER_00:So outside of outside of pastorialship, what do you do for fun, Pastor?
SPEAKER_02:I read, and then I read, and then I do more reading. I love to read. I I I'm involved in two book groups a month. I love classic literature. I believe God speaks through classic literature, you know, he speaks through the Bible, first and foremost, but classic literature. You learn about humanity. People read such rubbish today. So I'm encouraged reading the great work, great novels, French novels, English novels, uh, even the Russian novels. I get you depressed. But there we are. That's good. So I love to read, that is it, whether it's philosophy, history, I read it. I love it. I love books. I'm a bibliophile.
SPEAKER_00:I love it, love it. I love books myself. Um, I can't get enough of enough of it. I just need more hours in the day to get through them.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's right.
SPEAKER_00:So, changing gifts, Pastor. Can you describe one hardship or one of life's challenge that you rose above and can now say because of it, you're better, you're stronger. What comes to your mind?
SPEAKER_02:I think when I was in Wales, uh, there was a certain period in my church where things went wrong, and uh there was disagreement in the church, and you know, people were unhappy, it was one group doing this, one group doing that, and it was really, really hard. And uh fighting through that for a year and a half, losing members, etc. etc. But then after that, recognizing that you know, we're all human, and the people who left us disagreed with us what we were doing, were also human. And and the key thing was you've got to you've got to reconcile straight after that. And we did. We reconciled, they had their own, they had their own, they they they some of them went to their own church, make their own church, bit of a split, but then we recognized okay, let's make the best of that, let's not knock one another, let's recognize we all make mistakes, let's let's forget the past, let's build the future, and people don't forgive. People don't forgive. We need to forgive. Jesus about forgiveness. I need forgiveness. Not only do I need to give forgiveness, I need it, and I got it from Christ. I gotta pass it on. So that's that's what I've learned. And and I've learned that people who come to church, it's not just a pastor who um isn't an angel in that sense, it's the people who come aren't angels. So if you're not an angel, if you want to come to church, come to our church. You'll meet piles of people who are not angels, but are trying to fly in the right direction, though they've got broken wings, and most of them have lost their halos.
SPEAKER_00:Well said, sir. Well said, Pastor. Love it. We're all broken people. Yep, we are, Pastor Adams. Please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about East Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_02:I think the big thing for me, we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Old-fashioned gospel, that Jesus Christ came to change lives. He died on the cross, rose again alive on the third day, and we believe he's coming soon. And he's coming for people who have blown it, he's coming for the broken angels, all right? The bad angels, in one sense, in order to make a difference. So that's what it's about. Where we want, I could say lots of things about the church, but Paul once said, We preach Christ and him crucified. That's the big thing. I love preaching that. Do you know why I love preaching it? Because the gospel is free, it's been bought for goodness sake. Jesus bought it on the cross and he hands it to people. So that's why I'm excited. I love a bargain. This is the best bargain anyone will get. We're unapologetically Christian, all right? That's what we go. Uh, but we want to be open, and the other thing: any questions, it's okay. You can ask any question you like in our church. You're not gonna be hit for it, you're not gonna be hated for it. It's all right, and you can remain a seeker while you're there as well. Nobody's gonna push you because I believe it's God that does the work, and if God doesn't do the work, then it isn't done, so nothing happens. So you can come and you can sit there and you can listen. Nobody's gonna attack you and throw a Bible at you.
SPEAKER_00:Throw the sword at you. I love your enthusiasm, Pastor.
SPEAKER_02:Um and I love and I love life is about enthusiasm, it is about desire. Augustine said it's about desire, change desires. Everybody wants change desires. That's what we're about.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Um, it's refreshing and it's real and it's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. No problem, Pastor Adams. How can our listeners learn more about East Baptist Church? Do you have a website? Yes, we do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, our website is eastbaptist.org. So you can you can go on to that. But uh, having gone to that, come to know, come in person. 10 45 Sunday morning, come in person, lots of other little lots of other things we do, but start by coming in person there, get a feel of what we're about, and that's what it's about. You can decide for yourself. It might not be this church doesn't fit everybody, all right? It does, of course it doesn't, but it might fit you, it might not, and God bless you if you go somewhere else. But if you want to try us on the way, we would love to add you to the church, or rather, should I say, God adds you to the church to be more actually acts, as the book of Acts says, but you know what I'm getting at. So we're very laid back, no pressure, but uh we love to preach the gospel unapologetically and come along, you'll be welcome, promise.
SPEAKER_00:People are looking for a place where they belong. So, Pastor Adams, we really appreciate you. We really appreciate you being on the show with us today, and we wish you and East Baptist Church all the very best moving forward, preaching the word of God in season out of season. Thank you. That's all right. No problem. God bless.
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