Our Leadership
Teaching Elder/Pastor
Melwin Issac
Pastor Melwin Issac grew up in a Christian family in India, but he was not a converted, born again believer. "It is not uncommon to hear from preachers that there is a void in every human soul which only God can fill," Pastor Issac remarks. "This void in the human soul manifests itself in sin, ignorance, and disobedience."
While living this life devoid of the Spirit of God, the Lord suddenly drew Melwin to himself when he heard a simple Gospel message preached from John 3:16. That void in his life faded away with his sudden conversion. Since then, he has loved and cherished everything about Jesus, his word, and the church. While he was employed at a bank in Bangalore, he sensed a call to the ministry. After seeking the wisdom of the elders in his erstwhile non-denominational church in Bangalore, he enrolled at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in South Carolina. He subsequently graduated with an M.Div. from the institution in 2019.
God's grace continued to abound: In 2021, Albuquerque Reformed Church called him to be their Pastor while he was still interning at a Reformed church in Bangalore. Then, in February of 2023 he was ordained as Minister of the Gospel at Albuquerque Reformed Church.
"Every single day I am grateful to the Lord that I have been called to labor in his vineyard as a minister of the word and sacraments," says Pastor Issac. "I love to preach, teach, and keep myself busy in people’s lives; I am just an ordinary man called to labor for the extraordinary kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In his free time, Melwin loves hiking with friends on the Sandia mountains and exploring the city of Albuquerque.
Ruling Elder
Philip Warde
Elder Philip Warde and Wendy, his wife of 34 years, have been attending Albuquerque Reformed Church for over 25 years. Philip is a retired architect and Wendy is employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory as an Electrical Engineering Technologist. They live in Santa Fe, NM.
Ruling Elder
Micah Hood
Elder Micah Hood is a musician, lecturer at the University of New Mexico, and composer. For his formal music training, he attended Texas Tech University, earning a BM in music performance in 2009 and studied at the University of New Mexico, earning a dual Masters of Music degree in music performance and theory/composition in 2014. He is a professionally active member of Albuquerque's vibrant music community, playing trombone (his primary instrument) for various musical groups in the city, teaching music, writing music, and recording music of various kinds.
Originally from North Texas, he was blessed to be raised by Christian parents within the church, hearing the gospel and being taught biblical truths as far back as he can remember. His grandfather was his first pastor. By God's grace, he came to the knowledge of his sin and Jesus as his Savior when he was 8 years old, and God has graciously continued to grow him in wisdom and holiness throughout the years. In September of 2019, he was ordained as a ruling elder for Albuquerque Reformed Church and has labored within the session and for the congregation since. As part of the session serving ARC, he finds joy in leading God's people in corporate worship, teaching congregational singing classes, writing hymns and psalm settings for congregational use, recording and editing sermon audio, and teaching the children's Christian Education classes.
In his free time, Micah and his wife Lisa enjoy gardening, hiking, sightseeing, and visiting museums together. They have four wonderful children.
