The Rev. Max Vincent

Denomination: United Methodist Church (UMC)
Organization: St. James United Methodist Church, Atlanta, GA

Rev. Max Vincent is a Georgia native who is the son of a Methodist minister. He graduated from Franklin County High School (1988) and went to Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He spent the summer of 1989 working on an archaeology site in Ashkelon, Israel. While at Wofford he was the first director of their new student volunteer program. In May 1991 he received a BA with a major in Religion.

He began studying at Duke Divinity School in the Fall of 1991. The following summer he was awarded a three-week study grant to visit Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Greece. For the 1992-93 academic year, Reverend Vincent studied theology at the University of Bonn, Germany. He returned to Duke in the fall of 1993 and completed a Master of Divinity in 1995, and in 1996 he completed a Master of Theology in preaching and theology.

He married Kristen who is a native of Texas in 1995. She received a BA in religion from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In 1996, Kristen earned a Master of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School. After years of working in social justice and nonprofits, she is now a spiritual director and retreat leader, and is a Certified Narrative Enneagram Practitioner. Kristen has authored four books on spiritual formation, including one that they co-authored.

Since finishing seminary, Reverend Vincent has served as a pastor in North Carolina and Georgia. For four years he was a chaplain at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, and he is currently serving as the senior pastor of St. James UMC in Atlanta.

Their son Matthew is a student at Carleton College in Minnesota. He loves soccer, playing electric guitar, art, reading, and travel.

Kristen enjoys travel, decorating, reading, walking their dog, Gracie, and entertaining their cat, Rhino. Kristen and Max are hosting a trip to the Holy land in January 2024.

Reverend Vincent says that he loves preaching and leading worship, playing golf, reading, cooking, and hiking. He is the author of Because of This I Rejoice and Good News of Great Joy.