Spend a few minutes with Scott MacIsaac, and it won’t take long for you to understand you’ve met a person who’s passionate about preaching the gospel. The 61-year old former actor, writer, teacher, counselor and professional clown, feels he’s seen enough and experienced enough to be able to take a message of healing to a hurting, broken world ….and if you give him a few minutes he’ll share that message with you.
“I’ve seen the trend of where churches are going and it’s not all positive, but you can’t just depend on people to change things,” says MacIsaac, an intense, bespectacled man. “Yes we are broken, but the world is far more whole than broken, far more at peace than at war. Christ’s gospel wasn’t one of brokenness, it was one of healing.”
MacIsaac intends to spread that message across Prince Edward Island, where he lives in the picturesque, beachfront community of Charlottetown. He preaches on Sundays from the pulpit of a beautiful little white wooden church originally built by Disciples in 1812 in nearby Stratford. Known as All People’s Church, his is the first new faith community that has opened in fellowship with Disciples in Atlantic Canada in the last 40 years. (There have been other attempts at starting new churches in both the Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia areas but All People’s is the first to hold regular Sunday morning services). The next closest Disciples church is three hours away in Halifax.
MacIsaac was waiting for me at the airport in Charlottetown, on a rainy afternoon as I picked up my luggage after flying in from Toronto. On the ride to his home, where his family welcomed me as a guest for two days, MacIsaac shared that he also works as a prison chaplain where he sees people in pain every day.
“I work at a place of such brokenness,” MacIsaac says of his job as a chaplain. “Many of the people I see are in jail because of drug and alcohol problems. I honor their addictions because I know personally how tough it is to change. But I tell them that through all the tough times it’s best to have someone walking with you and that person should be Jesus Christ.”
MacIsaac understands addictions well. He is a recovering addict himself, having spent 20 years battling alcoholism. However, today he holds a Master’s degree in theater arts from a school in Paris, France and a Master’s of Divinity Degree from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has been married for 15 years to his wife Kelly, a French and English school teacher. Together they have a 12 year old son, Alex and a 10 year old daughter, Maggie. MacIsaac previously was pastor of another Disciples church - Wyndholme Christian in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and for a brief time, was pastor of a United Church of Canada congregation.
Although he was raised Roman Catholic and has had a variety of religious experiences, MacIsaac says he experienced a certain joy once he became a Disciple. He describes Disciples as a denomination that allows independent thought, but with the responsibility that independent thought be centered on scripture and on God’s love.
MacIsaac says on his church website that he will draw on his life experiences as a “teacher, actor, writer, preacher, counselor, marketer, dreamer, and father" in shaping All People's. After meeting MacIsaac, you're confident that his creative mix of life experiences will be a valuable asset in his new church ministry. To learn more about All People’s Church and about MacIsaac, visit: http://www.allpeopleschurchpei.com/
