Tad Hopp was born and raised in Texas. He grew up in the Presbyterian Church (USA). When he was 12, he knew he was gay but felt ashamed of it, not proud. He used to lie awake at night and beg God to make him straight. Since God couldn’t or wouldn’t, he went through an atheist phase during his teenage years. His church family was important to him though so he continued to show up at church every Sunday.
He was the poster child for how to be a model Christian youth as he was very active in his church even attending a Presbyterian related college. He graduated with his Bachelors in English from Austin College in Sherman, TX and moved back home to save money while he figured out his next steps in life.
A couple years later, he applied to do a Presbyterian mission year. He had always wanted to live overseas and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to do that. Unfortunately, the chance to move overseas was denied to him because of his sexuality. He did opt to do the same program in Chicago and that experience changed his life. It led him to follow God’s call to go to seminary, an environment where he really blossomed.
Tad got his Masters in Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary and managed to secure a job as a hospital chaplain in San Francisco shortly after that. That experience was a rough one for him and he realized that chaplaincy was simply not the right thing for him. So after that ended, he got a job working at a Presbyterian Church as their communications director. This felt like a natural fit for his gifts and his abilities. However, the church environment was not healthy and he soon realized that it was not a good place for him. Tad opted to take a break from church to heal from the trauma of working there.
This ended up being the best decision he could have made. He found himself with more free time, more energy and more enjoyment. He eventually opted to leave the ordination process and Christianity altogether. He ended up joining a local gay softball league which is how he wound up meeting his husband. They were married there in 2024.
At the end of 2025, he opted to relocate to Amsterdam to finally fulfill his dream of living abroad. His husband is still back in San Francisco but will be making the move over at the end of 2026. Tad runs a coaching business in which he helps gay men heal from religious abuse, trauma and shame. Because he had to do the work of healing all by himself and realized that no one should have to do that alone. So now he accompanies others on their own healing journeys. He combines his training in pastoral care and counseling, chaplaincy, his certification in life coaching and also brings his own lived experience with church abuse and trauma to his work. In his spare time, he enjoys running, hiking, books, movies, board games and has recently gotten into Dungeons and Dragons and Tarot!
Connect with Tadd
Instagram: magicaltadrigal
Website: https://coachtad.my.canva.site/atadbettercoaching
