IAN MCCONNELL

Ian was born and raised in inner-city Philadelphia in a large rough-around-the edges Irish catholic family—the oldest of six boys. Ian was brought to faith in Christ at the age of 15 through a local church that held an evangelistic youth group in his neighborhood

reaching out to troubled urban teens. After being discipled throughout his teen years and serving the younger kids of the community with Bible studies, Ian began to sense an internal call toward Christian ministry that was confirmed and encouraged by his pastors. This led to attending a Christian university where he received a bachelor’s degree in theology and after completing his master’s degree in seminary, he returned to Philadelphia with his wife Rachel and newborn son Payson to work with urban youth and a few years later re-plant a church.

That church became a thriving church-planting church and for 20 years Ian helped plant neighborhood churches and train leaders throughout the Philadelphia area. Over that time Ian has also served as a denominational leader training church planters across the country. In 2019 Ian was a part of the founding leadership team in establishing Trinity Fellowship Churches where he currently serves as President and Executive Director.

Ian and Rachel have been married for almost 25 years and have three adult children—Payson, Piper, and Silas. Together they share a love for all things Philadelphia sports, being outdoors, enjoying long unhurried conversations with friends over meals, and wrangling their two Giant Schnauzers. Ian has been serving as a Pastor at Grace Church since the summer of 2025.