Speaker Bio

The name is so challenging because it is Greek. But you say it like the man's name, "Andre" plus the first two syllables of "Odyssey": Ahn-drae-ODD'-iss

(If you really want to sound authentic, you can trill the "r").

The Pastor

Much of Rev. Andreades' pastoral work put gender issues front and center. He was pastor for ten and a half years of the Village Church in Greenwich Village, New York City, where he founded Higher Ground, a New York City ministry of Christian discipleship serving men and women with unwanted same-sex attraction. He went on to do a doctoral dissertation on emotional intimacy in Christian marriage in light of gender distinction, a qualitative study of men with a history of same-sex attraction and unions who are now in long time marriages to Christian women. From 2014 to 2018, Rev. Andreades was senior pastor of Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. He is now associate pastor of Iron Works Church in Phoenixville, where he has served for three years. He has counseled scores of engaged and married couples as well as church members in their various relationships.

The Scholar

Dr. Andreades draws on an extensive formal education in his teaching. He holds a B.S. in Geology & Geophysics with a minor in Biblical Studies from Yale University (1984), where he was awarded the Yale Geological Hammer Award for Thesis Research in sonic wave measurement through granite. He earned an M.Div. in Pastoral Ministry from Reformed Theological Seminary (2001), as well as an M.S. in Computer Science from New York University - Courant Institute (1997). Building on historical geography study at Jerusalem University College (2008, 2014) in Israel, he obtained a D.Min. in Mission and Ministry at Covenant Theological Seminary (2013). But most valuable is how he has brought this education to four decades of serious study of the Bible. In 2015, he wrote the book, enGendered, to fill the need to speak about gender as God’s gift. His second book, Dating with Discernment, came out in 2021 to help single folks make solid marriages from the very beginning.

The Relationships

Sam grew up with three older sisters who have constantly challenged him in his understanding of what it means for him to be a boy. He has been married for thirty-two years to his wife, Mary K., whom he describes as the truest woman he knows, and without whom he says he could not do what he does. Together they have raised three sons and one daughter, and now have two daughters-in-law. Submission to the body of Christ has always been an important part of Sam's Christian walk. As a member of a local church since becoming a Christian at seventeen years old, he has bonded to brothers and sisters of God's family through the dozen churches to which he has joined himself in each phase of his life.

Being a Presbyterian pastor means ministering in relationship. It requires working closely with his session (the church’s board of elders), which affords Sam some of the most meaningful friendships of his life. Chairing the Shepherding Committee of his presbytery (a collective of local ministers and elders) in New York also afforded him important people-linking lessons.

His favorite Bible verse is Luke 23:43, Jesus' words to the thief on the cross: "This day you shall be with me in paradise." Sam hears through these words the Lord's amazing forgiveness of Sam's own sins.