New pastor Adam Babcock joins Cambria Vineyard Church in Cambria, California, after five years in Tanzania

Cambria Vineyard Church has a new pastor, Adam Babcock, who arrived in the Central Coast community with his family after five years leading a congregation in Tanzania, about 10,000 miles away.

Babcock said the move to California was motivated “by God.” According to Babcock, a move that may seem extreme is part of a pastor’s ministry. Over three decades in pastoral work, he has served at least five congregations in the United States, on both coasts and in the Midwest, before going to East Africa.

The return was also a homecoming for the family. Babcock was born and raised in the Bay Area, and his father was born in San Luis Obispo County.

The church was searching for a successor to Gary White, who left Cambria Vineyard Church after serving there since 2000. A committee of church leaders conducted the search, which Phil Robnett, who led the group, said took 10 months. The committee first completed an application form designed to help identify a suitable candidate. Robnett said the Vineyard USA organization posted the form on its website and the church received many responses. After reviewing them, the committee chose two candidates and invited them to spend a few days with the church and community. Babcock and his family traveled from Tanzania for the interview, and he was offered the position.

Robnett said the committee believed God had led the decision. “We believe God invited us to make this decision and wants this person to be in our community,” he said. He cited Babcock’s “experience as a Vineyard pastor, his multiple roles in years of ministry and in using the meaning of the Holy Spirit in his life” as other factors. He added that Babcock’s experience beyond California and the United States was important to the committee, saying, “We want people who are seeking God in their lives to come to us from wherever they are, whoever they are.”

Another member of the search team, Kelly Ward, described Babcock as “100% what we were looking for … a perfect fit.” Ward told The Tribune that Babcock has already become involved in the community, “letting them know ‘We’re here and we care about you.'” Ward called him energetic, well qualified and focused on the church and its people.

Babcock has said that as a teenager he “sensed a deep overwhelming call from God to give my life to ministry.” He was born in Mountain View in 1975. When he was 14, his family moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where he joined a youth group of more than 300 students (Colossians 3:23).

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