Our Pastor

Bishop James W. Gaiters, Sr. moved to Columbus, Ohio after graduation from high school and became a member of the Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith under the pastorate of the late Bishop Karl F. Smith. He attended Aenon Bible College, and was called to the ministry in 1965. He began pastoring in 1969 in his hometown of Zanesville, Ohio, having returned there from Columbus, Ohio to assume oversight of a small work that had been founded by his grandmother. That small congregation of 4 grew to become the now flourishing Greater Apostolic Church of Christ, and he pastored there for nearly 21 years. In 1989, Bishop Gaiters returned to Columbus to become assistant pastor to his father-in-law, the late District Elder Ernest L. Hardy, at the Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith. After Elder Hardy’s transition to glory, Bishop Gaiters founded Grace Apostolic Church in Columbus, Ohio. This thriving ministry ministers to spirit, soul and body through many avenues of outreach, including the E.L. Hardy Community Enrichment Center, an outreach facility housed on the church campus. Year-round programming originating in this facility serves hundreds of children and families in the inner city. Grace Apostolic Church is a member of the Ohio District Council, Episcopal District #3, of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. In Ohio, Bishop Gaiters served 8 years as a District Elder, and 16 years as administrator of the O.D.C. Campgrounds, now known as “Hallowed Hills”. He was a member of the P.A.W. International Missions Board from 1979 to 2007. He served 8 years as its secretary. In 1997 he was elevated to the Bishopric and served 10 years as Bishop of International Missions. He has traveled and ministered abroad and has facilitated, by his recommendations, the replacement of outgoing bishops and the development of new dioceses and diocesans. He  is a member of the P.A.W. Board of Bishops, a member of the Executive Bishops Council, and currently serves as Diocesan Bishop for the Ohio District Council, 3rd Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. Bishop Gaiters is founder and chairman of Pentecost Sunday Ohio, Inc., a fellowship formed to unite churches of like precious faith in Columbus and Central Ohio in the annual celebration of Pentecost Sunday.