Rev. Barlow is the youngest of five children, born in Niskayuna, New York.

Rev. Barlow grew up in Duanesburg New York, a rural area rich with history and opportunities to play and work in a natural environment.

His Christian faith was nurtured in a congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, which has since merged with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to form the PCA. Baptized as an infant, Rev. Barlow made a conscious choice to live as a Christian in the eighth grade.  His participation in an interdenominational youth ministry in the area, also had a lot to do with his Christian growth while in high school.

Rev. Barlow visited Gordon College in Wenham, MA, his senior year and decided to make application there, where he double majored in Mathematics and Biblical and Theological Studies.  During this time, Rev. Barlow attended Park Street Church in Boston his first two years and was active in their college age ministry, Seekers.  This gave him the opportunity to interact with his peers from most of the colleges and universities in the greater Boston area, to attend services at the “radio pulpit of New England,” and to be part of a committed small group (modeled after the Methodist band meeting) on the Gordon Campus. For the next two years Rev. Barlow attended Christ Church (Episcopal) in South Hamilton. Over time at Gordon, Rev. Barlow was active in an off campus ministry every year, in an effort to be in the world as well as not of it.

After Gordon College, Rev. Barlow attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Master of Divinity program. While there, he was employed as a Greek Teaching Fellow and Interim Director of the Greek Language Program, as well as Lecturer in Bible (Greek) at the College. Between the two schools he taught twenty-three courses in introductory and intermediate Greek and rapid reading in the Greek New Testament. The high point for him was his instruction and care of his students. An even higher point, was marrying his wife, Kim, on August 28, 1982 at her home church in Lancaster.

Following seminary Rev. Barlow went to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati on a full tuition scholarship. Due to the fact that he discovered the average Ph.D. student was spending ten years in the program, Rev. Barlow decided to leave after one semester. While there, he and his wife attended College Hill Presbyterian Church (PCUSA.

In February of 1985, a door opened for him to work with a split from Kim’s home church, New Life Assembly of God, as an Associate Pastor (Youth and Christian Education).

Following their time at New Assembly, Rev. Barlow and his wife became active at Highland Presbyterian Church. It was during this period, that he credentialed with the PCUSA, worked fulltime at Lancaster General Hospital and part-time for Highland as Parish Visitor - visiting about sixty homebound persons each month, making hospital visits one day a week, and, occasionally having a part every Sunday in the morning services. During their six years in Lancaster, their three children, Jim, Erin and Christine were born.  Rev. Barlow did Basic Clinical Pastoral Education at Lancaster General Hospital, and did all but the dissertation of a Doctor of Ministry Program at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He wrote and defended it while they were in Minnesota.

Rev. Barlow served six years as solo pastor of First Presbyterian Church, in Wheaton, Minnesota, a county seat town on the prairie, a great place to be with little children. More recently, he has served nearly eleven years as solo pastor in Warfordsburg, a good place to finish raising a family.