The leader of the North American missions arm of the second-largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States resigned this week after stoking backlash for publicly blessing a pastor who joined the Roman Catholic Church.
The Rev. Irwyn Ince, who has served since 2021 as the coordinator of the Mission to North America of the Presbyterian Church in America, resigned effective Sept. 30, citing “recent circumstances that I believe make this step best for the peace and unity of the church,” according to a Thursday statement from the MNA’s permanent committee.
Ince’s resignation follows a viral video posted on social media last week that showed him praying a blessing over the Rev. Joel Littlepage during an Aug. 31 service at prominent GraceDC Mosaic in Washington, D.C., where Littlepage had served as a pastor since 2018.
Alright, here are a few quick clips of a #PCA in #NAPARC where a Teaching Elder (Pastor Joel Littlepage) says this:
“…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… pic.twitter.com/ItV8Y9AdV4
— Michael Foster (@thisisfoster) September 5, 2025
According to footage of the service, Littlepage announced from the pulpit that he and his family had “discerned that our calling was to come into full communion and unity with the Catholic Church.”
Following his announcement, Littlepage presided over the distribution of the elements of the Lord’s Supper, and Ince can be seen applauding at the conclusion of the service before he calls those in the congregation — “especially shepherdesses” — to come to the front of the sanctuary to pray over Littlepage and his family.
The Christian Post has reached out to GraceDC Mosaic for comment and will update this article if a response is received.
The incident prompted widespread backlash from PCA members and pastors on social media, some of whom accused Ince and Littlepage of violating the Reformed denomination’s historical stance against Roman Catholicism.
A group of two dozen PCA pastors fired off a letter of concern to the MNA, accusing Ince of “enthusiastically [applauding] for the man who had announced his exit from the church of the Lord Jesus for a false church which has rejected the gospel of grace and all-too-often persecuted its preachers.”
In their Thursday statement, the MNA permanent committee condemned Ince’s prayer of thanksgiving and blessing over Littlepage at the conclusion of the service as “wholly inappropriate.”
Citing both the PCA Book of Church Order and Presbyterianism’s foundational 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, the committee further asserted that “the Roman Catholic Church fails to maintain the Word and Sacraments in their fundamental integrity and is not to be recognized as a true branch of the Church of Jesus Christ.”
“We understand from Dr. Ince that it was not his intent to convey support of [teaching elder] Littlepage’s decision to unite himself to the Roman Catholic Church, but his prayer had the unfortunate appearance of support thus upsetting the peace and the purity of the church,” said the committee, which thanked Ince for his years of service while noting that an interim MNA coordinator would be announced at a later date.
Ince claimed in a statement that he was unaware Littlepage was planning to announce a defection to Roman Catholicism during the service, and that the prayer of blessing over him was planned before he announced it.
“Unbeknownst to me, Joel was planning to announce during his sermon a decision to leave the PCA and join the Roman Catholic Church,” said Ince. “After doing so he then proceeded to lead the Lord’s Supper. Afterward I offered the prayer I had already agreed to give — thanking God for his ministry at Grace Mosaic and asking God’s blessing on his family.”
Ince acknowledged and apologized that his prayer was easily misconstrued as an endorsement of Littlepage’s conversion.
“I realize that my prayer, given in that moment, has caused confusion and led some to conclude that I was affirming Joel’s decision to join the Roman Catholic Church. That was never my intent,” he said.
“I regret that my actions gave rise to such an impression, and I sincerely apologize for that. To be clear: I believe the Roman Catholic Church is in serious doctrinal error, and I would not encourage any believer to pursue membership there. At the same time, I continue to love Joel and his family and will pray for God’s mercy and grace in their lives.”
Ince’s resignation follows multiple politically and racially charged controversies that have emerged from the MNA in recent months. His tenure was also marked by a nearly $2 million shortfall and failure to meet church planting goals.
Earlier this year, the MNA drew scrutiny for guidance formerly on its website advising illegal immigrants how to avoid officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and linked to far-left organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.
After news of it drew backlash on social media and within the denomination in February, Ince penned a statement formally repenting for the guidance.
That same month, Ince raised eyebrows for participating in a “Black Fellowship Dinner” advertised as open to “Black worshippers” at Resurrection Oakland Church, a PCA congregation in Oakland, California.
Public statements Ince made in 2019 re-emerged at the time, suggesting that black Christians are subject to “trauma” and “minority fatigue” being around white people and need their own spaces within the church.
The story led to heightened attention of the denomination’s ethnically-based affinity groups, which also feature at Ince’s home GraceDC Church network in Washington, D.C.
Unlike the illegal immigration guidance, the MNA’s permanent committee condemned racism while still affirming “fellowship gatherings or events that center on the shared cultural experiences of ethnic minority brothers and sisters.”
Ince’s reelection as MNA coordinator led to tensions on the floor of the PCA’s General Assembly in June, especially when the Rev. Timothy Brindle, whose wife is black, was cut off and admonished to “speak in a more temperate way” as he cited James to express concerns about alleged racial segregation and partiality in the denomination.
Ince’s resignation comes months after the Rev. Bryan Chapell stepped down in May as the denomination’s stated clerk after making false public accusations of apostasy, familial abandonment or suicide against multiple Presbyterian ministers.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
