Pastor Adam Keough has been elected to serve as the new Executive Secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ireland. The British Union Conference Executive Committee took the decision on Thursday 15th September, on recommendation of the Irish Mission Executive Committee.
The rationale behind this appointment is that, under the Lord’s guidance and His blessing, the Irish Mission is growing, and so are the administrative needs of our Church. It was felt that time has come to build capacity and elect a person to fulfil this role. Pastor Adam was deemed to be the most qualified and experienced person for this role. This decision is also a further step towards fulfilling one of the Session voted strategic objectives of the Irish Mission, namely the change of status from Mission to Conference.
Adam spent some of his formative years in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland before moving to England, where he attended Stanborough School. Aged 20, he felt the call to study Theology at Newbold College, which began his journey into pastoral ministry. Since entering pastoral ministry in July 2002, he has served as youth pastor in the Larne / Belfast district, as Belfast church pastor and Irish Mission Youth Sponsor, as pastor in the Drumcondra / Ranelagh district and most recently as the pastor of the Ranelagh church.
Going forward, he will serve as Executive Secretary on a 50% part-time basis, with the other 50% of his time dedicated to the Ranelagh church. Adam takes over the role from Pastor Jacques Venter who will continue to serve as the Executive Secretary for the Scottish and Welsh Mission as well as his roles at the British Union Conference office.
Reflecting on his new call, Adam said, “While the Executive Secretary’s job is mainly administrative in nature, I hope to find unique ways to build relationships with other Christian leaders, reflecting and sharing the love of Jesus in relational ways through my work, and to be a witness to the joy of being a saved Seventh-day Adventist Christian.” Adam is married to Heather, who was born and raised in Belfast. They have two children, Olivia and Jacob. Adam loves supporting Liverpool and is beginning to enjoy kayaking!
Pr Dan Serb, president of the Irish Mission said: “We congratulate Pr Adam for this appointment and welcome him to the Mission’s leadership team. We know that the work here will be blessed by his gifts and wealth of experience, and we wish him the Lord’s richest blessings as he continues to serve the Church he loves in this new role.”
There will be a handing over period with Pastor Adam commencing his new role formally on 1 October and taking over all responsibilities in January 2023. We would like to also thank Pr Jacques for his dedicated and conscientious service to the Irish Mission with the most notable of his many contributions being the completion of the process of reregistration of our charity.
