dr. emil thomas, pastor-elect

Pastor Emil Thomas was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He was saved at 15 years of age and has been preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ since he was 17 years old.

Pastor Thomas is a graduate of Bishop College, Union Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, where he received the Doctor of Ministry Degree.

Over the past four decades he has pastored Destiny Church of Waldorf, Maryland, Zion Baptist Church of Washington, DC and Jerusalem Baptist Church of Palo Alto, California. Along the way, God has used him to construct a new sanctuary and administrative complex in California; design rites of passage ministries that took African American teens to Ghana, West Africa; and to coordinate annual mission trips to Jamaica, West Indies.

A published author and former newspaper columnist, Pastor Thomas has preached the Gospel across these United States, and in Africa and the Caribbean.

Pastor Thomas resides in Waldorf, Maryland with his wife Shanda and their daughter Zoey and has three adult children who live in Maryland and California with their families.