On March 23, 2022, members of the Permanent Welcoming Committee had a teleconference meeting with Rev. Kevin Pulliam and the consistorial members of his north-central Iowa church who had decided to leave the Reformed Church in America. The question on the cyber table was all about the hand and the glove. Would this meet and greet eventually lead to a good ecclesiastical fit for the Reformed Church in the United States as well as for this particular congregation?
The meeting went exceptionally well. Good questions were asked, and after the call, a few on the Welcoming Committee reconvened and remarked how eerily similar that consistory appeared to be to many consistories in the RCUS. Weeks went by without follow-up until the Welcoming Committee reached out again to Rev. Pulliam. It was discovered that the Alliance of Reformed Churches, a Reformed Christian denomination formed in 2021 by a group of churches that broke away from the Reformed Church in America, was courting this church and would eventually have this congregation join them with one exception. Rev. Pulliam was not persuaded.
As the closest RCUS minister to Pulliam’s charge, only a couple of hours away, I had the pleasure of getting to know this faithful brother and the conflict he was enduring. He loved his congregation, but he was convicted that orthodoxy should not be compromised to accommodate doctrine and practice that was not true to God’s Word. Since he had previously spent time in ministry in the Kansas City area, I invited him to room with me at Synod that was being hosted by Northland Reformed Church. Brother Pulliam took up the offer, and thus began his journey in becoming a minister in the RCUS.
Prior to his first steps toward licensure in the RCUS, Pulliam conceded that his path toward serving the church, including the days of his youth, was a challenging one. “I grew up in a highly dysfunctional, abusive family. I always believed that I knew the Lord. We attended a charismatic church, and I was baptized into the Spirit at around 18 years old, but I never spoke in tongues, and I never received a prophecy for anybody,” he noted.
When he graduated from high school, he admits that he had built up anger and hurt because of family dynamics. He would attend Kuyper College, which was then called Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, MI. Pulliam said, “At the end of that year, I was actually asked to leave because academically I just wasn’t there, but God sovereignly connected me with a gentleman who believed that he was a prophet and still does. But he was more like a mentor to me, and he loved me. And for that, I am forever grateful to him and to the Lord for providing him in my life.”
It was through this mentor that Pulliam made connections with other young people. He began attending an African American General Baptist church in Grand Rapids. “Between 2001 and 2006, I spent a lot of time crying out to the Lord as I dealt with things that happened in my adolescence. It was during this season that the Lord brought me to Psalm 51:12-13. ‘Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.’”
“One of the things that occurred to me is that in David’s experience of God’s mercy, his promise would be then to teach transgressors. That became my heart and my passion. And I think it was at that moment I was not only delivered from my unrighteousness, but called into the ministry.”
Pulliam would be readmitted to Reformed Bible College. He admitted, “I had a lot of immaturity. I had a lot of pain, a lot of hurt. Prior to that, I couldn’t discipline myself long enough to study. I was very intimidated, but the Lord sovereignly took all of that away from me. I remember feeling a lot of shame and guilt because of the way that I grew up and experiences that I had encountered. I cried out to the Lord and repented, and the Lord showed me his mercy and He forgave me.”
By 2009, Pulliam had graduated with a degree in Bible and Reformed theology with minors in Greek history and philosophy. He later attended Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary because, as he put it: “Southern Baptist churches are autonomous and you can be Reformed and serve in a like-minded congregation.” He would move to Kansas City and meet Rachel, who would become his wife.
“At first, Rachel was very much against my going into pastoral ministry. She had served as a missionary after she graduated from high school before she went into college. She went all over the world, serving people. Her desire was to marry a man who also wanted to be involved in ministry, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a pastor’s wife,” he said.
While at seminary, Pulliam became part of a church revitalization project, laboring in a church in the inner city of Kansas City. The church was falling apart due to lack of discipline and spiritual immaturity among the leaders. He needed job security and began working for Brinks Security, but he felt the burden to return to pastoral ministry. This would bring him to Iowa to serve an older established congregation of the Reformed Church in America.
This multigenerational-rooted Dutch Reformed Church would provide a new challenge for Pulliam. “These RCA churches that have been together for 100-plus years have relationships that are deep and they go back a long ways. They kind of understand the doctrines of grace, but on the extent of God’s sovereignty and His providence, there are a number of things that they kind of don’t understand,” he observed. “There are a lot of lovely people that still attend that church. I felt a tremendous burden for them, but I had quickly realized that although most of these people had been in church their whole life, some didn’t know the basic gospel message,” he added.
The mainline denomination had accepted same-sex attraction, and churches in another state had begun to ordain homosexuals. Pulliam feared the ripple effect through the denomination would affect his local congregation. What he was preaching and teaching from God’s Word was not in keeping with what his congregation’s denomination was embracing. “At this time, my congregation was asking me if I would be willing to help them find a denomination to be a part of. Amongst those I found was the RCUS. When I met with the RCUS brothers during that Zoom teleconference meeting, I knew that’s where we ought to go, but my congregation would end up choosing the Alliance of Reformed Churches, and I could not accept joining a denomination that in my opinion was only 5 or 6 years behind the one we
were leaving.”
Pulliam struggled with the thought of parting with a people whom he loved and served. “I got on the RCUS website and looked at pulpit vacancies. Searching for an RCUS pulpit was intimidating and overwhelming. I had a lot to learn.”
Pulliam credits Elders Jim Snyder and Elton Dockter in helping him to prepare for licensure after Christ Reformed Church in Minot, ND, desired to call him. “These men were a tremendous blessing to me and my wife, as were others in the Northern Plains Classis. We felt warmth and fellowship that we had never experienced before.”
Pulliam found Snyder to be a straightforward elder, clearly laying out the steps in the licensure process. “I appreciated his honesty and being direct with me. I also connected with Rev. Cody Schwichtenberg, who helped me to prepare for my exams. To say the licensure exams were intimidating is an understatement of a lifetime. There was so much to learn, but I had so much encouragement.”
The Classis was satisfied with Pulliam’s exams, and as he and Rachel were traveling back to Iowa, the next hurdle lay ahead of them: informing the congregation that they were moving. “We made the announcement and some of the people we thought we
had built friendships with trust and respect soured on us. I felt very conflicted. Hurtful things were said of us, but I
continued to plead with them to seek a faithful denomination.”
Rev. Pulliam has now served Christ Reformed Church going on two years. He and Rachel adopted Ruth when they were residing in Iowa. Ruth is now ten years old. “She is tenderhearted and very analytical and a lot like me. The transition from Iowa to North Dakota went smoothly for her. Everyone here is so supportive.” They hope to adopt a boy in the near future.
One of the many blessings in interviewing a minister who has recently come into the RCUS is hearing one refrain after another that speaks to the sovereignty of God, the fragility of man, and the overcoming strength that comes from above. Rev. Kevin Pulliam is a meek, gentle, and thoughtful servant of God who is driven to preach God’s Word faithfully and to pastor the sheep caringly. He is thankful to enter a denomination that strives to be orthodox in word and deed, and the RCUS has already been blessed by his godly service.
Rev. Chuck Muether
Reformed Herald Special Correspondent
Associate of Covenant RCUS
Gettysburg, PA