Alumni Stories: Isaac Moore ’11

Stepping Out of the Boat
For Isaac Moore, PCA was more than a school – it was a place where he formed life-long relationships that still shape his life today. From fourth grade through graduation in 2011, Isaac grew up in the classrooms, on the stage, and on the baseball field. His journey since PCA has taken him from broadcast journalism and Super Bowls to corporate communications and now into pastoral ministry. Through it all, one thread remains constant: his deep love for people.

When did you begin at PCA?

I started in fourth grade. I had come from an even smaller Christian school. It was almost like a homeschool co-op and my parents wanted something a little bigger but still grounded in the Christian faith. I don’t remember all the logistics because I was so young, but I believe that was the heart behind it.

By fifth grade, I really started to feel at home. I became more confident, made friends, and started getting involved in drama productions. That’s when PCA stopped feeling like “a new school” and started feeling like my place.

What do you remember most about middle school?

Middle school stands out more vividly for me.

I remember being in Mr. Connell’s class in eighth grade. He would often play football with us at recess, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. That kind of engagement, teachers who genuinely stepped into your world, meant a lot.

Drama was also a huge part of those years. I was in The Music Man in eighth grade, performing alongside upper school students, which felt like a big deal. We also performed The Screwtape Letters in sixth grade, and in seventh grade I was part of a production called Terezin: Children of the Holocaust. That one was heavy because it was set in a concentration camp.

Looking back, it really impacted me deeply in a positive way. It made me grapple with the realities of evil, suffering, and the plight of the marginalized. I remember being so fascinated with that time in history and it really broke my heart for those who suffer injustice. Even though it was just a play, it really began to shape how I thought about the world.

That kind of engagement, teachers who genuinely stepped into your world, meant a lot.

You were involved in both sports and theatre. What did that look like in high school?

I did drama through freshman year, then shifted more fully into sports. I played basketball and baseball – though admittedly I kind of hated basketball and was terrible at it! I just did it because of my friends. Baseball was different though. My junior year we won the school’s first Baseball state championship in 2010. I played centerfield and caught the final out in a close game. Honestly, playing at Delta Dental Stadium in front of family and friends is still one of my greatest memories from high school!

PCA being a smaller school meant I knew everyone. That sense of community is actually why I chose to stay at PCA for high school. I considered other options, but PCA felt safe and familiar. Those relationships really mattered to me, and honestly are still meaningful today!  In fact I had the privilege of officiating one of my friends’ weddings a few years back. I don’t see my friends from PCA often, but whenever I do I’m surprised how it feels like no time has passed. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up with the same people from fourth through twelfth grade!

PCA being a smaller school meant I knew everyone.

That sense of community is actually why I chose to stay at PCA for high school.

Were there teachers who particularly shaped you?

Absolutely. I already mentioned Mr. Connell from eighth grade. He was probably my favorite teacher I ever had. I remember thinking “I want to be just like Mr. Connell when I’m older.” I also was really impacted by Mr. Hafner in seventh grade. Both of them made school fun!

In high school, Mr. Beal had a significant effect on me. He had a reputation for being tough, but I always loved being challenged. One thing that really stands out was the public speaking unit, specifically the persuasive speech assignment. I didn’t always enjoy research writing and I couldn’t stand creative writing, but I fell in love with writing for speech during that class. Something just clicked for me, and I learned that I come alive when I’m in front of people. It’s probably one of the reasons why I chose the major I did in college.

I also really enjoyed Mr. Foley, Ms. Frost and Mrs. Shevenell’s classes. Ms. Frost reminded me of Adele and I would always sing Rolling in the Deep around her. She was sort of like my unofficial therapist before I knew what that was! I remember finishing many days in the art room doing homework with friends, talking about life and blasting music.

Oh and Mr. Pease’s New Hampshire History class was so fun! It was a small group of seniors and we went on field trips all over the area to historical sites. It really made me appreciate where I grew up in a new way.

Also, I must admit, I may have set the record for most tardies in PCA history. Genuinely I’d be shocked if anyone had more than me. I was always late to homeroom. Obviously, there were consequences, but even so, I always had good relationships with my teachers. They saw me for who I was, they laughed with me, they challenged me and I knew they really cared…even when I was a distraction! I had a bit of a habit of spilling my Aroma Joe’s in class, which, unfortunately, happened most often in Mr. Beal’s room. I still haven’t grown out of that to be honest. I spill stuff on myself all the time!

What was graduation like for you?

Overwhelming, but in a good way. It kind of felt surreal. PCA had been my world for most of my life to that point. I was excited for college and living in Boston. I definitely had senioritis, but there was also some fear of the unknown. There’s always that tension at graduation: excitement for what’s next and grief over what you’re leaving. There was this realization that I’m no longer a kid anymore, and many of my relationships were going to change.

What was college like at Emerson?

Emerson is kind of a unique school. Everyone there was highly talented, extremely driven, and career focused, so it created a very competitive educational environment. In many ways it felt more like a four-year internship than four years of college.

That being said, I had some incredible opportunities. I worked for the New England Patriots on their digital team, which meant I got to meet the players and coaches and sit in the press box during the games.  I also got to intern with Fox  25 Boston and NBC Sports New England. I went to two Super Bowls, covered MLB spring training in Florida as well as the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. I was even ranked one of the top collegiate broadcast journalists in the country! Professionally, it was amazing.

But by senior year, I was burned out. I experienced a pretty significant mental breakdown and had to step away from school briefly. By the time I graduated, I realized that to pursue my career would likely mean another breakdown. I wasn’t in a good place mentally or emotionally, and I didn’t want to move to a big city like L.A. or New York, nor did I want to move to a news station in a small market – aka the middle of nowhere. I was really discouraged and didn’t know what to do. I felt like I had waisted my entire education.

What happened after college?

Well, I moved back to New Hampshire and got an apartment in Dover with a friend. I worked briefly at Aroma Joe’s in an administrative role and then got hired for communications position at Liberty Mutual (which later became Lincoln Financial in 2018). The corporate world gave me stability and financial freedom, even if I didn’t always love working for a large corporation.

But honestly that first year or two after college was a real low point for me. I still hadn’t delt with a lot of the things that had led to my breakdown senior year, and I was deeply anxious and depressed. I wasn’t sleeping, I hated my life and I felt stuck. I remember one night looking up at the ceiling thinking, “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to live like this.”

By that point in my life, I had run away from God. I hadn’t rejected his existence, but I felt he had no real significance to my life. Here I was, lying in bed thinking,” there’s got to be more to life than this? I can’t continue in this way. I won’t make it.”

I didn’t know what to do. But the next Sunday, I got in my car and drove to church for the first time in years. “Honestly, all I want is a hug,” I said to myself. I walked in late and stood in the back, anxiously looking around, hoping no one would notice me. “What was I doing here?! This was a mistake. I don’t want people to see me – to see me in such a mess.”

But God saw me. Just as I was about to leave, a family friend came walking in. In the corner of his eye, he saw me standing in the distance and made a beeline to give me a huge hug. In that moment, God met me. I felt seen. I felt known. I felt loved. 

I found myself experiencing the overwhelming love of the Father through the tender embrace of a brother. By the end of the meeting, I stood with tears in my eyes and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. In this moment, the gospel became real to me in a new way. Despite running away, despite doing literally nothing to deserve it, I was still loved. I hadn’t exhausted His grace – in fact I couldn’t possibly outrun the boundaries of His love, and the pain I was experiencing broke His heart.

That moment didn’t magically erase anxiety or depression for me. But it changed my foundation. I wasn’t alone anymore and I felt the confidence to get the help I needed and to talk about the things I was ashamed of about myself.

And now you’re stepping into pastoral ministry?

Yeah, so after that moment I really began to throw myself into the church and re-engaging community. When I was a teenager, I felt a real call to leadership so I started to reconsider what that meant for my life. I took a number of theological and leadership training classes and looked for opportunities to serve. I really believe that Christian leadership is primarily about serving others, envisioning them of the Kingdom of God, and creating opportunities for them to use the gifts God has given them. As leaders, it’s our job to equip the saints to do the work of the Kingdom.

After years of discernment and conversations with our Lead Pastor, we decided that now was the time to step into a full-time role as an associate pastor. It’s exciting, but honestly, nerve-racking and overwhelming. This isn’t just a career change. It’s not just a new job. It kind of feels like Peter stepping out of the safety of the boat and into the instability of the waves. The responsibility of caring for other people feels incredibly weighty.

And I’m still just as broken as anyone else! I make mistakes all the time and need grace every day. Sometimes when I feel like a mess, I’m like “why would anyone want to follow me?” But that’s kind of the point. Following Jesus isn’t about being perfect. It’s about coming awake to our need of grace every day and learning the rhythm of repentance and faith as the breathing in and breathing out of our faith.

I love people. I love listening to their stories. I love walking with others and hopefully helping them come to love Jesus more. PCA absolutely had a role in helping form that in me.

What is your advice to PCA Upper School students?

I would say this: don’t rush through these years. Cherish them. It’s easy to treat high school as something you just survive or something that just happens to you. But the relationships you’re forming today, both with friends and teachers, can have a significant impact on who you become as an adult. One thing I didn’t fully appreciate as a student is how much the teachers and staff genuinely care about you. I didn’t always agree with every decision, and there were plenty of times I felt frustrated or that something was unfair but looking back I can see how much my teachers loved me. That doesn’t happen at every school.

Also, expect challenges in the future, but don’t be afraid of them. Life is never a linear line from one stage to the next, and it’s often the challenges we face as well as our mistake that end up shaping us into the men and woman God has called us to be. C.S. Lewis says that “We can ignore pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” God has spoken far more clearly to me in the valleys than in the peaks. So, my encouragement is to embrace the challenges that come – embrace failure even. As you do, you may find that you learn more about yourself and about God and about His plans for you than you ever could have learned had you not faced it in the first place.

And finally, don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. Don’t just inherit your faith from your parents or your teachers. Make it your own and allow yourself to wrestle with your doubts. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Tim Keller who says:

”A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection …And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong(er) faith, to respect and understand those who doubt.”

If Jesus truly is who He says he is, we have no reason to be afraid of our doubts or questions. In my experience, honesty with ourselves and with God often leads to a powerful encounter with the Risen Christ. Blessings.

I love people. I love listening to their stories. I love walking with others and hopefully helping them come to love Jesus more. PCA absolutely had a role in helping form that in me.