Adam is overwhelmed after his church sermons in London hit a major population rise and deals with the sudden flood of patrons and because of a rumoured great report from Ofsted about the local church school with local parents become desparate to have their children enrolled. Meanwhile Adam becomes tempted to trade an spot in the school for money to get a stained glass window in the church restored.
The archdeacon tells Adam that the collection plates from his church are not receiving enough revenue, needing more generous people, Adam loans priest Darren Betts the church for his sermons since Darren's is undergoing renovations. However a problem erupts when Darren will not leave Adam's church after the hard work he did transforming the church to a modern version. Meanwhile Alex feels lonely and decides they need to reignite the flame of their love life.
A Muslim children's prayer group are lent the church from Adam, however the church's congregation revolts at the thought. Meanwhile Adam decides to fight a lap-dancing club opening across from the school, however Adam's research into the matter of adult clubs becomes complicated when he starts to enjoy himself
Adam has envy after hearing an old rival of his, who is also a priest on Catholic radio. Adam decides to speak on the show about homosexuality in the church. However after an controversial comment, the Archdeacon steps in and demands Adam to take 'media lessons' from his rival. Meanwhile, Colin decides to find christianity in the Rastafari religion.
Following Adam's recent moments of feeling excluded by people, he is excited to meet Leon, a young man who wants to marry at his church. The two soon become friends and start to do a range of activities together. However the friendship turns sour after an dinner party where Adam discovers his wife Alex and Leon attended the same college and shared a one night stand together, much to Adam's disgust.
After a terrible review of one of his sermons on a Christian website, Adam has a crisis of faith, which to Alex's surprise seems more serious than his usual biannual episodes of doubt. While he's at home experimenting with leaving the cloth by sitting in his pants watching daytime telly and gambling on the internet, someone else is travelling the parish impersonating a vicar to elicit free beers and avoid parking tickets. Adam's meltdown reaches a head when he drunkenly comes on to Ellie at a Vicars and Tarts party in aid of the school library, and Alex finally snaps.
The Reverend Adam Smallbone's life in his London parish hasn't got any easier; his flock are just as demanding and his wife Alex has reached breaking point. When Adam unwittingly thwarts a mugging, he's tempted to bask in the novelty of being hailed a super vicar instead of the usual clergy-baiting, and enjoy Alex's renewed attraction to her hero husband. But as the lie spirals out of control, Adam draws attention from on high...
Abi Johnston, a talented young curate, comes to train at St Saviour's. Lay reader Nigel is green with envy, and even Adam's initial enthusiasm at the prospect of someone to cover weekends off soon gives way to doubt in his own abilities as a priest when he realizes just how brilliant she is. When Colin decides his vicar needs cheering up, Adam inadvertently gets the chance to experience religious versus chemical ecstasy.
A heatwave hits London and Adam can't sleep. He is not the only one plagued by nightmares; elderly parishioner Joan (Sylvia Syms) has just moved into a nursing home and is convinced her new room is haunted. Adam is called on to justify believing in the Holy Ghost but not spooks. And there are demands at home too; Alex and Adam have a pint-sized house guest in the form of Adam's difficult goddaughter Enid.
The church school is up for religious inspection and headteacher Ellie's confident they'll pass with flying colours, thanks to inspiring new teacher Mr Feld. The only problem is, he's an atheist. Adam clashes with Ellie, but has another battle on his hands - he's signed up for an interfaith football tournament and the St Saviour's congregation rather lacks young, fit athletes.
There is a hole in the church accounts and the archdeacon is ready to pounce. Salvation appears to come in the form of a wealthy City banker who arrives at St Saviour's to join Alcoholics Anonymous. However, Adam's mind is not on balancing the books - serial blagger Mick has arrived on the vicarage doorstep with a much bigger ask than the usual twenty quid, and Adam takes a huge risk.
Ambition's in the air. Pedantic Lay Reader Nigel has always believed he'd be a far better priest than Adam and finally gets the chance to prove it - or not. The Archdeacon also has lofty ambitions for career advancement, but a surprise encounter throws a rather different light on things, and even Colin has got a new job. Meanwhile, Adam faces questions about his own future and has a big decision to make.
Christmas. The busiest time of year for a vicar, and Adam's full of ideas for his first Advent in London. However, he soon discovers that Christmas at St Saviour's is quite different to his sleepy Suffolk parish. He's under pressure from the Archdeacon to maximise seasonal profits, the diary's packed with unusual events and he's up at the crack of dawn every morning to cook breakfast at the homeless shelter. Exhausted, with a permanent hangover and Midnight Mass looming, he's in no mood for a house guest - least of all Alex's cantankerous father Martin
Reverend Adam Smallbone and his wife Alex adjust to life as new parents in the inner city parish of St Saviour's, Hackney. How will Adam cope with parenthood on top of his small but demanding congregation? Can he manage being a father and a Father? Adam's wife Alex gives birth to their daughter in dramatic circumstances. Adam teams up with a local imam to help improve the community - but is his new colleague friend or foe? Plus the new area dean and diocesan secretary clearly have it in for St Saviour's. Can Adam save his church from their parish reorganisation plans?
Adam's put on the spot when two of his and Alex's friends ask him to marry them. Of course he'd love to but there's one problem: they're gay and the C of E have a tiny bit of a problem with gay marriage. Meanwhile, Adam signs up for a course on how to save his church - led by Roland Wise. Is Roland's explosive IED (Invade - Evangelise - Deliver) approach to ministry the answer to Adam's prayers? Probably not.
Adam is intrigued when a local artist, Mike Tobin, offers to make a £60k donation to St Saviour's. Finally the Lord has provided a solution to Adam's financial problems. Nothing will go wrong (everything goes wrong). Meanwhile Adam ropes Ellie in to his campaign against some local litter louts.
Father Adam faces one of the biggest challenges of his ministry when a difficult new parishioner begins attending St Saviour's. The position of church treasurer is vacant and Adam has found the ideal candidate to turn the church's dire finances around. OK, so he has a conviction for viewing child abuse images online. But he's found solace, redemption and rehabilitation through the church. If the church isn't for forgiveness then what is it for? Meanwhile when Adam's own transgressions come back to haunt him, he ends up sofa surfing at Nigel's flat and Colin's homeless hostel.
Adam's shocked when he discovers that Nigel has reported him to the bishop for conduct unbecoming. As the archdeacon investigates Nigel's complaint, Adam begins to seriously doubt his calling. Maybe he's not cut out to be a vicar after all?
St Saviour's is closed and Adam is determined to become a management consultant. But what will his not-so-merry-band of congregants do without their vicar and their church? And can Adam really shrug off his vocation and his parishioners so easily?
