Before embracing a call to ministry the Rev. Ian Macdonald was an award-winning Creative Director and copywriter, who for over 20 years worked for numerous national and international advertising agencies; including Saatchi and Saatchi, Rubin Postaer and Assoc., and Ogilvy and Mather. His clients included such brands as ACLU, American Express, Disney, Honda, Samsung, and Toyota.

His love for world travel and passion for meeting people became the genesis for his blog Jesus, not Jesús: Looking for Christ in the face of strangers. He is an amateur guitar player who also enjoys writing short stories, sardonic poems, and songs that will never be heard on the radio. 

Rev. Ian earned his Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from California State University, Fullerton. He is also an alumnus of the Congregational Fellowship for Theological Studies (CFTS), and has received the John W. Claxton Memorial Award for excellence in the understanding and practice of Congregationalism. 

In 2014, Rev. Ian moved with his family to Greenville, Michigan to become the 17th settled minister of the historic First Congregational Church of Greenville.  

Currently he serves as the Sr. Minister of New Church Sherman Oaks, a House Church plant that ​embraces and encourages all people into an intimate exploration into the world of faith and religion as a means to understand its relevance to the way we love and live out our life.