PASTOR JOHN GOINS
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Pastor John W. Goins was born in Greensboro, NC. He is married to Erika Goins, and they have one daughter, Carmen.
In July of 1992, at 19 years old, Pastor John Goins came to Love and Faith Christian Fellowship and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. In 1993, the call of God on his life became clearer – God put vision in him that has guided him, motivated him, encouraged him and strengthened him throughout these 30 years.
God shared with Pastor John Goins three things while he was sitting in the sanctuary praying: (1) John, you have to be faithful. (2) John, you have to trust me for everything. (3) John, one day you will be the Senior Pastor of Love and Faith Christian Fellowship. John just loves the Lord, and he’s grateful that the Lord saved him as messed up as he was. He never wanted to be out front; he told the Lord, “If I can do anything, just let me serve.” As his relationship continued to grow in the Lord and in being faithful, whatever the Lord called him to do, he did; whether it was answering the prayer phonelines, altar workers, ushering, witnessing, greeting, youth leader, deacon, or partners in prayer, just to name a few. He is thankful unto God for a true undershepherd that saw the hand of God on his life.
Pastor John Goins has been so blessed to serve our community for 27 years in our church bookstore, New Beginnings Christian Bookstore, which he managed for 21 years. Also, he was truly blessed to serve God and His people at our Kernersville location (one church in two locations) for 13 years as an Associate Pastor.
Pastor John Goins carried the vision that God put in him for 28 years. Our vision here at Love and Faith is to equip the people of God for the work of ministry. We have always been a ministry of integrity and excellence. Pastor John Goins strongly believes in building the lives of people upon that firm foundation which is Jesus Christ and the Word of God. He believes God has given us a mandate to continue to reach the lost for Jesus Christ and disciple them. He believes God has blessed us to continue to serve our local, national and international community through the support of missions. He’s been so blessed to serve under Bishop Michael Thomas and the vision that God had given him, which he strongly believes in still today.
BISHOP MICHAEL THOMAS
Bishop Michael Thomas was born in Mt. Gilead, North Carolina and is married to Michelle Dennis Thomas, with one daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. In 1991, Bishop Thomas started Love and Faith Christian Fellowship in Greensboro, North Carolina with only 3 members. Under his spiritual and apostolic leadership, the church grew to more than 3,000 members. As the church continued to grow Bishop Thomas opened a second location in 2006 and Love and Faith became “one church in two locations.
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Throughout his pastoral ministry, Bishop Thomas encouraged new members at Love and Faith to join one or more of the 80+ ministries offered by the church. Desiring that each member perform their ministry work with integrity, faith and love, Bishop Thomas sought to please God with spiritual, financial, and administrative excellence in the ministry of the church. Committed to fulfilling this shepherding assignment given to him by the Holy Spirit, he believes that “to whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48).
As a seasoned mentor, Bishop Thomas began his oversight ministry when several pastors sought him out for spiritual guidance and support. He traveled to locations nationally and internationally to visit with pastors under him for equipping and establishing churches in the Kingdom of God. This practice culminated into the apostolic oversight ministry of Good Shepherds Fellowship International in 2010 where he now serves as Chief Executive Prelate.
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After 32 years of pastoral ministry, Pastor Thomas shifted to fulltime oversight of Good Shepherds Fellowship International (GSFI). GSFI is a non-denominational fellowship of ecclesiastic leaders serving in the offices of the five-fold ministry. Bishop Thomas gathers these good shepherds for the primary purpose of equipping and empowering them to impact the world with the unadulterated word of God. The vision for GSFI is found in Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Bishop Thomas’ oversight has grown to become a worldwide ministry, overseeing more than 40 global ministries, here in North America, Asia, Africa, Europe and establishing the work of GSFI as far as Australia. The overall mandate of GSFI is to fulfill the great commission as Jesus gave to His disciples and by faith to each of us in Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Therefore, through this assignment of GSFI, Bishop Thomas seeks to mentor, lead, and equip men and women around the world to become efficacious in their call to be good shepherds after the heart of God, building strong and healthy churches to the edifying of the body of Christ.