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A Vocational Call
James’s vocation was first nurtured through the faithful witness of his parents, Mrs. Anita Louise Richardson Holcomb and the late Reverend James Wesley Holcomb, Jr. Through their lives, he encountered a faith expressed not only in worship, but also in service, sacrifice, and care for God’s people. Their example helped form in him a deep reverence for the Church and an enduring conviction that Christian vocation is lived through faithful service to others. His ordination to the priesthood therefore marks neither a departure from his beginnings nor simply a change in ministry, but the continuation of a calling first cultivated at home and within the rich experiences of his early days in ministry. James now enters the Sacred Order of Priests carrying forward that inheritance, seeking to proclaim the Gospel, steward the Church’s sacred mysteries, and serve God’s people with humility and faithfulness.
The Path to Priesthood
James Wesley Holcomb III’s path to the priesthood has been shaped by the converging callings of Christian ministry, education, and service. Formed in the Black Baptist tradition and educated in Catholic schools, he later served as an ordained elder in the Church of God in Christ, exercising leadership in pastoral care, Christian formation, and congregational ministry. Alongside this work, James served for more than a decade as an elementary teacher and school administrator. After being received into The Episcopal Church in 2017, he entered the discernment process for Holy Orders in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast in 2022. He began his theological studies at Candler School of Theology before transferring to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, where he graduated with honors in 2026. Following his ordination to the transitional diaconate, James began serving as Curate at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Dothan, Alabama. He now approaches priesthood as the continuation of a lifelong vocation: proclaiming the Gospel, teaching the faith, caring for God’s people, and serving the Church through Word and Sacrament.
Photography by Josh Hicks, courtesy of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Dothan, Alabama. 2026