Rev. Gary D. Adams, Sr.
Advancing the Kingdom of God
Pastor Gary D. Adams, Sr. is described as a servant leader among his peers, parishioners, and other acquaintances. Pastor Adams lives by the philosophy, “whatever you do, do it with all your heart as unto the Lord and not man”. As he engages in ministry, his emphasis as a leader is to serve and not to be served. Pastor Adams can also be described as one who “Cares for the sheep” regardless of their denominational affiliation or lack thereof.
To further advance the Kingdom, Rev. Gary D. Adams, Sr. organized Victory A.M.E. Zion Church in South Jackson (MS). With God’s leading, he desired to do a new thing in Zion by planting a new society in an area where Zion was not present. With this in mind, he reached out to Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett, shared the vision, and asked to be pulled out of the rotation after pastoring for nine years. With Bishop Jarrett’s blessing, Pastor Adams started a bible class in the home of a couple. This bible class of eight, including Rev. Adams and his family, grew into what has become known as the Victory A.M.E. Zion Church. As the church grew under Pastor Adams’ leadership, Victory Church relocated to having services in the local YMCA. Afterward, they rented a location on Cooper Road, across the street from the present-day location of Victory AME Zion Church. In 2001, pastor Adams and the congregation went from being lessors to owners, purchasing the property across the street, including a sanctuary, classrooms, administrative offices, a fellowship hall, and four acres of land. With the help of the denomination, Victory AME Zion Church burned its mortgage in April 2022 under the pastorate of Rev. Aurelia Jones-Smith, and the leadership of Bishop Eric Leake.
While pastoring Victory, God used Pastor Adams to increase its membership to over 100 members, providing computer classes, hosting summer camps, organizing a 501(C) 3: Victory Community Association, organizing a Leadership Training Institute (VCLC), conducting tutorial clinics, sponsoring scholarships, etc. Since organizing Victory, Pastor Adams has lent his wisdom and experience to assist other pastors in planting, organizing, and growing churches.
Gary has also served the following stations as a passionate servant leader:
Cathedral (2014 – Present) - *Paid off Mortgage *Extinguished all old debt * Completed and paid for over $500,000 in renovations and improvements * Remodeled gymnasium and added rooms (without loan) * Purchased 2 vans (cash) *Organized and implemented new ministries * Installed new air and heating unit *Continue to provide learning institute for training community leaders *Support struggling churches and pastors through Ministry of Kindness and counsel *Raised the highest amount in support of Home Mission in history of conference *Provide leadership training for leadership within the church
Zion Chapel (2008 – 2014) - *Purchased church bus (24-passenger) *Refinanced church loan to create savings and options for funds saved *Installed new roof on educational building (cash) *Generated over $75,000 in liquid assets *Continued to provide learning institute for training community leaders *Made improvements and renovations campus (cash) *Supported struggling churches and pastors through Ministry of Kindness *Raised the highest amount for Home Mission is the history of the conference
St. Paul (2007 – 2008) - *Stabilized church’s financial health *Grew membership *Stabilized membership
Victory (1997 – 2007) - *Organized and planted church *Purchased church sanctuary (4 acres) to house congregation *Purchase a van (cash) *Started a 501(C)3 corporation *Started a learning institute for training community and church leaders *Grew membership *Started a radio broadcast
Greater Blair Street (1994 – 1997) - *Renovations to church bathrooms *Created a saving plan for church *Started and implemented the Save the Neighborhood Project *Stabilized membership
Salem (1989 – 1994) - *Added new offices and bathrooms *Grew finances *Implemented new ministries *Supported struggling churches and pastors in the area
Free Chapel (1/1989 – 11/1989) - *Increased attendance *Paid all claims and assessments
Resource Development
Gary D. Adams, Sr. is resourceful. Because of his unselfish nature and his willingness to share his gifts and graces with others to help them improve their station in life. In 1999, while pastoring Victory AME Zion Church, God gave him the vision to start a learning institute. This was an ideal location within the capital City of Jackson, MS. The learning institute was designed to be a catalyst for learning for clergy as well as laity. Because he understood that not all pastors would pursue a formal higher education, he wanted to provide a landscape that allowed them to attain the knowledge at an affordable cost. The first school he started was Victory Christian Learning Institute. Within this institute, he hired certified educators, professionals, and subject matter experts to teach classes such as Computers, Church Administration, Church Polity, Contemporary Issues in the Black Church, Understanding Your Call, and Old Testament. Due to the itinerant nature of the church, when he was moved to his next assignment, VCLC was paused. However, Rev. Adams never lost his zeal for hosting classes and improvements at each of his assignments. During his current assignment at Cathedral AME Zion Church, he reinstated the Learning Institute as the Azusa Leadership Institute.
Increased Integrity
As a pastor, Gary Adams strives to have a culture of integrity where church leaders take their commitments seriously, are proactive, and are accountable for their results. Gary fosters a positive, open work environment to promote strong, resilient teams.
Gary served as the District Manager for Rev. Dr. Jimmie C. Hicks on the Canton-Jackson District from 2002 – 2007. During this time, he worked to build trust with Dr. Hicks and his colleagues. Gary is dependable, reliable, and trustworthy.
Gary Adams is honest and has strong moral principles. He is an ethical person and does the right thing, even behind closed doors. He delivers on his commitments. He is accountable for his actions and is able to admit when he has made a mistake. He views challenges as another opportunity for growth. He faces life and overcomes obstacles with resilience.
Strategic Planning
Rev. Adams served seven years (2008–2015) as a Presiding Elder in the South MS Annual Conference. He served four years under Bishop Darryl Starnes and three years under Bishop Mildred Hines, who implemented a new district, The XXX District. After being appointed Presiding Elder by Bishop Starnes, Rev. Adams rallied the District together to begin to plan the work. Although Rev. Adams was the Presiding Elder, he welcomed the District's concerns, passions, and inputs. This gathering helped him and the district navigate as a team, and the work proved to be amazing.
Rev. Adams worked to strengthen pastors and congregations in administrative roles, developing mission, casting vision, goal setting, budget development and implementation, procurement of funds, organizational structure, etc. Often Presiding Elder Adams would go back to churches after quarterly conferences to provide workshops and training to help congregations with mission, vision casting, and goals.
On the occasion that the newly organized district, under Bishop Hines's leadership, could not raise their Connectional, Conference, and District assessment, Presiding Elder Adams organized a strategic plan. Presiding Elder Adams coordinated a three-day event that raised over $12,000 to pay assessments for all churches. As a Presiding Elder, it was not uncommon for Rev. Adams to donate his salary to pastors who were not getting full salaries because of the congregation's financial challenges. Presiding Elder Adams provided fundraising assistance for these congregations and pastors to procure new funds and to share the responsibility for improving the church's fiscal health.
For seven years as a Presiding Elder, Adams was known to be an advocate for his pastors, ministers, district officers, and lay. Many considered him to be pastoral. It could be clearly seen across the districts that he presided over that he was adamant about sharpening the skills and tools of leadership.
Economic/Fiscal Responsibility
Early on, Pastor Adams realized that being a pastor went beyond preaching, teaching, coaching, administration of Sacraments, caring for the sheep, etc. He realized that a major part of the pastor’s role was a character-driven leader/administrator. Acknowledging that the rise or fall of ministry was strongly predicated upon the proficiency of the leader’s administrative abilities. Soon Pastor Adams came to acknowledge that one of his strengths as a pastor was in administration, organization, and fiscal policy. In every charge that he has led, he has coached the church’s growth fiscally and spiritually and improved the overall administrative roles.
Pastor Adams has over thirty-four years of experience in pastoral leadership but considers himself a sound fiscal manager. In every appointment that he has served, he has always gone in with an attitude to improve upon the work of his predecessor and leave it better work for his successor. All seven churches that he has served have experienced improvement and growth, numerically and financially. Pastor Adams’ emphasis has been on developing and deploying disciples (the people he served). Pastor Adams has stressed stronger familial and church relationships, fiscal stewardship, ministry involvement, community service, and leadership development.
Upon being appointed to the Cathedral AME Zion Church, under the leadership of Bishop Mildred Hines, Pastor Adams spent the first few months completing a thorough assessment of the church dynamics. During that time, he met with trustees, stewards, ministry leaders, and lay to gain greater clarity regarding the culture, disposition, financial solvency, challenges, and congregational concerns. These things were important for the continuous development of the mission and vision casting
About seven months into the appointment, Pastor Adams led the leadership and congregation in borrowing two hundred thousand dollars for needed renovations and improvements. These funds were used to purchase new air conditioning and heating units, upgrade bathrooms, remodel the foyer and front breezeway, change lighting fixtures, purchase and install projectors and screens, remodel the fellowship hall, remodel offices, and renovate the meeting rooms of the gym.
This loan served a dual purpose of structural improvements, as well as to give the church a stronger Dun & Bradstreet credibility, to build relationships with a lending institution, and to model sound debt management and extinguishment practices. Although this loan held a fifteen-year amortization, the church extinguished the debt in seven years by using creative methods. During the course of seven years, Cathedral was able to complete other projects and improvements in addition to this loan in excess of $500,000 from funds generated through tithes and offerings. Those projects included a total gym renovation, the addition of a kitchen, bathrooms, and upstairs loft, the purchase of two vans, and the remodeling of other properties.
