PCA Pastor Tells Church He’s Becoming Roman Catholic: TE Irwyn Ince Gives Him Prayers and Blessings
Joel Littlepage joined Grace Mosaic church seven years ago, becoming the associate pastor of the burgeoning PCA congregation in Washington, DC. Here, he served as the Pastor of Worship and Formation while also being the founder and co-director of the Daily Prayer Project.
On August 31, 2025, in a sermon that the church did not publish, but which we acquired and uploaded in full, Littlepage preached and then announced to the congregation that he was leaving the denomination and becoming a Roman Catholic:
“I want everyone to hear it from me as your pastor, because you’re gonna hear it either way. We had discerned, Melissa and I, in our journey seeking the Lord’s face, is that our calling was to come into full communion and unity with the Catholic Church.”
Michael Foster ( @thisisfoster on X), who broke the story, explains: “This is a clear violation: Of his ordination vows (failure to notify of change in views). – Of BCO 29-1, 29-2, and then 31-2. – And on top of that, violations of the Standards and the Directory for Worship.”
After announcing that he was leaving to become a Catholic, for his last official act in the PCA, along with the help of some women handing out the elements, he served communion to the entire congregation, including Teaching Elder and the current Mission to North America coordinator, Irwyn Ince.
Ince then sent them out with prayers and blessings:
“I’m gonna ask, uh, most particularly GMO’s elder shepherdesses, leaders, come surround them, and anyone else who wants to come on down to the front. Put your hands on our dear Littlepages, as we get to go before the Lord on their behalf, understanding that as said before the service, this is just see you soon, not full goodbye.”
Joining Ince in prayer for Littlepage’s new journey to Rome was his wife, Kim Ince, who serves in a leadership role as a “Shepherdess” of Grace Mosaic church.
In April of 2025, Littlepage sent the congregation a letter (see here) announcing his intent to step down, writing in part:
“Once I learned of Pastor Russ’ imminent timeline, I had to discern whether or not to divulge this decision to Mosaic now. The timing is very painful (especially given current events in DC), I hate to cause pain to this congregation, and I wrestled with whether to continue to stay for the next year(s) to offer pastoral stability. After hours of agony, prayer, and counsel from several wise advisors, I came to see that the most caring course was for me to make my journey known to you now so that Mosaic can discern its future of pastoral leadership without my long-term presence weighing on that decision.”
As for what Littlepage’s wife thinks of this move to Rome, we don’t think she’ll mind. While she previously served as the chief of staff for the now defunct Institute Cross-Cultural Mission, a project from the Grace DC Network which provided “consultations, workshops and cohorts to equip churches and organizations with the competence and confidence to welcome others as Christ welcomes us,” she parlayed that into new role: communication director for Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker, an openly gay Democratic politician in DC.
When she’s not parlaying his policies, she spends her time calling for the government to defund the police.
Notably, she seemingly expressed her enthusiasm four months ago for her soon to be leader, exclaiming “Habemus papam” – the Latin phrase meaning “We have a Pope!”
Perhaps George Delake summarizes this best:
