From the East Gate: A Preaching Anthology, 1996-2024

From the East Gate is a highly personal and retrospective selection of sermons from 1996 to 2024, including reflections on what preaching is (and isn’t), with an introductory essay on what the Bible is and how to read it. Linton’s background in both Eastern Orthodox and Reformed theology (including a special interest in Karl Barth), combined with his lifelong interests in literature and the arts, make for a highly distinctive intersection of perspectives. His style is inviting and thought-provoking, gentle but also provocative, and draws his readers into deeper engagement not only with the Scriptures, but also into conversation with centuries of Christian thought. Deeply traditional in his theological grounding, he is also refreshingly difficult to categorize. Judicious elements of memoir scattered throughout (in which the wilds of Northwest Montana appear) make this collection all the more intriguing.

Adam Linton was born on October 11, 1954, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sausalito is his hometown. On November 11, 1962, along with his father and sister, he was baptized at Christ Church Episcopal, Sausalito. On June 6, 1965, also at Christ Church, he was confirmed. He and his family remained active there until 1967. In the autumn of 1972, he began attending the Orthodox Church and was received into its membership in the spring of 1974. He returned to the fellowship of the Episcopal Church in 1996.



He and his wife, Lori, were married on July 17, 1977. They have five children and six grandchildren.



He is a graduate of the College of Marin, Kentfield, California; Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, Pennsylvania (1980); and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts (Master of Divinity, 1990).



He was ordained as a priest in the Orthodox Church in America on October 10, 1980, and served parishes in Colorado and Massachusetts, as well as serving as an active-duty chaplain in the United States Navy and then in church administration.



On October 16, 1997, his priestly orders were received in the Episcopal Church (Bishop Frank Griswold, Diocese of Chicago), and thereafter he served parishes in Illinois, Utah, and Massachusetts, and additionally on standing committee (Utah) and as a deputy to general convention (2006). He retired in 2019. He and Lori then relocated to Northwest Montana. Thereafter he continued to serve occasionally and on a part-time basis through 2024.