Leadership

District Superintendent

Bishop Keith G. Nation

Auxiliary Bishop Keith G. Nation was born on December 16, 1957. He is a first-generation member of the Church of God in Christ. He has been faithfully married to District Missionary Angela Nation for forty-five years. From this holy union, they are blessed with two sons, Minister Gregory Nation and Garren Nation.  Blessings continue with the gift of four grandchildren.                              

In February 1980, he accepted Christ as his personal Savior and subsequently received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He answered the call to ministry in 1987 and was ordained in July 1992. After prayerful consideration of the greater calling on his life, he established the Victory Worship Center Church of God in Christ in August 1998 in the city of Stockbridge, Georgia. Bishop Nation is an honorable twenty-year Army veteran. During his travels throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, he faithfully served in seven jurisdictions. His exposure to different jurisdictional administrations and military training enhanced his leadership development. At Southern Georgia Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, he served as Leadership Development Coordinator, Leadership Trainer, Men, Ministry Coordinator, and Jurisdictional Sunday School Superintendent. He currently has oversight for the Jurisdictional Leadership Institute Training.

In January 2010, he was appointed District Superintendent at the same time established the Strong Tower District.  In March 2012, he was elevated simultaneously as Northern Region Superintendent and Administrative Assistant to the late Bishop Dr. John W. Leggett, Jurisdictional Prelate. He was later recommended by General Board member Bishop Sedgwick Daniels, rewarded, and approved by Bishop and Chief Apostle Charles Edward Blake (Emeritus) and the Church of God in Christ General Board to the bishopric. On June 23, 2021, he was consecrated by Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle J. Drew Sheard, receiving his Episcopal appointment to the sacred office of Auxiliary Bishop in the Lord’s church.

Academically, he has achieved an Associate Degree from Central Texas College, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Texas, now Texas A&M, and a Master of Arts in Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. In June 2024, Bishop Nation was nominated and received an honorary humanitarian doctorate from the Global International Alliance University for over thirty-five years of service that have positively impacted the well-being of humanity.

He is a Family and Marriage counselor and a certified Substance Addiction counselor. He is a man of prayer, integrity, and impeccable character. Teaching and preaching God’s word to transform lives is his great joy!

District Missionary

Lady Angela J. Nation

Lady Angela J. Nation is a faithful committed praying woman of grace. She is aproponent of genuine relationships. She believes in loving people where they are,listening to their heart, hearing the Lord’s voice as you pray and inspire them to grow! Her aspiration in life is to fulfill the call to which the Lord anointed her with a spirit of excellence giving all the glory and honor to God!

She accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in June 1981. As a military wife, she immediately began serving in the outreach ministry along with her husband witnessing and leading young soldiers to Christ. Throughout the years, she has served as Youth Sunday School teacher and Young Peoples Willing Worker, usher, women’s choir member, hospitality president, intercessory prayer president, and president of the minister wives’ circle. She was appointed as the Northern Regional Missionary until she passed the baton. Lady Nation presently serves as the District Missionary of the Strong Tower District and is part of the executive staff for Mother Dr. Barbara Smith, Southern Georgia Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Women Supervisor.

Lady Angela Nation is the elegant fragrance of the Victory Worship Center, COGIC Incorporated in Stockbridge, Georgia. She serves as the church administrator, serves on the board of directors, and labors in love alongside of her husband, Bishop Dr. Keith G. Nation. They have been faithfully married since July 7, 1979. From this Holy union, the Lord blessed them with two sons, Minister Gregory Keith Nation and Garren Anthony Nation. Lady and Bishop Nation take joy being grandparents. Lady Nation pursued her higher education in business administration through San Antonio College and Central Texas University. She is certified through the American Theological Seminary as a Christian counselor. More importantly, winning souls for the kingdom with love and kindness is her personal mission. Upholding the standard of holiness and serving the Lord in love with her whole heart is her good pleasure!

District Chairman

Pastor Thomas L. Holmes

Elder Thomas L. Holmes, a blessed and anointed preacher, a talented and accomplished teacher, is the only child of the late Hezekiah and Johnnie M. Love Holmes. He grew up in Bayside, NY. His mother, a pastor’s daughter was the major spiritual influence in his life. Educated in the public schools of NYC, a graduate of the City College of NY with a BS & MS in Education, he honed his teaching skills in the public middle schools of NYC, in Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens for over 30 years before retiring. He also studied the Bible at the O.M. Kelly Religious Training Institute and earned a Bachelor of Religious Education and then returned to the Institute to teach for three years. Elder Holmes accepted his call to the ministry in 1992 and was ordained an Elder in 1994 by the late Bishop Ithiel C. Clemmons (Gen. Bd. Member). During his tenure of almost 35 years under Dr. Thomas E. Burns, Elder Holmes served in many capacities within the church which helped to prepare him for future ministry. For the next eight years, Elder Holmes served faithfully under Pastor Robert L. Stevenson at New Jerusalem Pentecostal COGIC.

In 2004, the Lord called Elder Holmes to the pastorate and gave him the name of the church, New Mercies Pentecostal Temple. In 2005, Elder Holmes packed up his family and relocated to Covington, Georgia in July of 2006. In August of 2006, Pastor Holmes birthed New Mercies Pentecostal Temple Inc. COGIC in their new home. In 2018 by the leading of the Holy Spirit, Pastor Holmes led the New Mercies family in the acquisition and renovation of their church building in Monroe GA., where the ministry currently resides. In 2014, Pastor Holmes began to work with the Strong Tower District under the leadership of Supt. Keith G. Nation.

For the past 19 years, Pastor Holmes has served as the under-shepherd over New Mercies Pentecostal Temple Inc. Pastor Holmes’ devotion to God and continued dedication to the work continues as he waits patiently for God’s direction for the next chapter of New Mercies Pentecostal Temple, Inc. to be written.