Leadership

Elder Jack Paul Spicer, a son of Methodist farmers, was born on April 14, 1917 to Wilkins and Josephine Spicer in Roe, Arkansas. He was born into a family of one older brother and six sisters. Elder Spicer had always said that he thought the Holiness Church was too strict. But when he was 21 years old, after being truly converted in the Baptist Church, he sought and found the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holiness Church where his mother and two of his sisters belonged. He got saved and joined his mother's church, Round Pond Church of God in Christ in Round Pond, Arkansas where Elder E.M. Day was the pastor. Elder Spicer had heard about Bishop Mason and the Convocation that was being held in Memphis, TN about 50 miles away. He went and it was there that he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost during a midnight service when Elder Utah Smith was in charge.
 
Our founder met and later married Lettie Mae Stanton on April 14, 1940. Missionary Lettie Mae Stanton had joined Earle Church of God in Christ in Earle, Arkansas when she was 15 years old. Elder Minas Jones was her pastor. After belonging to Round Pond Church of God in Christ for five years under Elder Day, Elder, and Missionary Spicer, along with their family moved to Richmond, CA. After moving to Richmond, Elder and Missionary Spicer placed their membership at McGlothen Temple under the late Bishop George W. McGlothen. For fifteen years they remained active members of McGlothen Temple until Elder Spicer founded and became the pastor of Ephesians of Richmond Church of God in Christ in 1958. Pastor Spicer served so well that he was selected to serve as Assistant Superintendent of the Richmond District. A few years later, the hand of the Lord moved and our founder was again selected to assume the responsibility that goes along with the office of Superintendent of the Richmond District, California Northwest Jurisdiction under the late Bishop Clarence J. Davis.
 
Elder Spicer, who was lovingly referred to as “The Shepherd,” and his wife, served and cared for Ephesians for 39 years. Missionary Spicer was his help-mate down through the years. She was his wife for 56 years and the First Lady of Ephesians for 39 years. Many lives were changed and enriched by God through Elder Spicer's ministry. God's word and His love have spread far and wide via a number of lay members born into this church who subsequently became ministers, elders, missionaries, pastors, and superintendents, and are, even now, successfully spreading God's Word.

Elder Louis B Spicer, Jr. is the grandson of the late Superintendent Jack Spicer and nephew of the late Superintendent Joseph Turner of Bethel Temple PAW.  Groomed from his teens, he worked with his father in the home building and car industry.  After graduating from Woodland High, he worked with various architects as an architectural designer since 1984, and in 1990, he established LBS Design and Planning in downtown Oakland, California.  In 1994, he was registered with the State of California Architectural Examiners Board as an Associate Architect with Mark Lindquist of Lindquist Construction and Bay Area Chapter President of the Association of General Contractors.  He studied architecture at Woodbury University of Burbank, California, and California College of Arts of San Francisco, California.  

Elder Spicer accepted salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in 1980 during the Saints University Crusade in Berkeley, CA. He began serving as Youth Department President, Inspirational Choir President, and Director in his local church.  He was appointed by the Late Bishop Clarence Davis of McGlothen Temple COGIC as Richmond District Youth and Young Adult Choir President; later, he was appointed District YPWW President and Youth Coordinator of California Northwest Jurisdiction Youth Department under Bishop W.W. Hamilton. He was called to the ministry in 1991 and served as Youth Pastor and Trustee Board Member. In 1996, Elder Spicer was ordained an Elder by the Late Bishop W.W. Hamilton.  In 1996, the late Superintendent J. P. Spicer elevated him to Assistant Pastor, and shortly after Superintendent J. P. Spicer called to Glory, with a unanimous vote, Elder Spicer was appointed pastor of the Ephesians of Richmond in January 1998.  

Pastor Spicer desired to equip himself effectively for ministry. He was accepted to Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, and graduated in May 2015, holding a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies with Cum Laude Honors. In the fall of 2015, he entered the School of Divinity at Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and graduated in May 2019 with a Master of Divinity concentration in the Marketplace. He completed a Master’s in Business Administration in Not-For-Profit Management at the School of Business and Leadership at Regent University in May 2021. In Fall 2021, Pastor Spicer was accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, and completed the Doctor of Ministry Program at Duke University in November 2023.

Embarked upon a secured foundation as a visionary leader, in March of 2003, Ephesians of Richmond burned the mortgage.  A Faith-Based, Non-Profit Organization, Ephesians Community Development Center (ECDC) was incorporated in 2003. In January 2016, Pastor Spicer was elected as a Community Advisory Board (CAB) Member of the Contra Costa County Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) Reentry Program. In January 2016, Elder Spicer was appointed to serve as jurisdictional secretary of Greater Northern California Second Jurisdiction and was elevated to the office of superintendent of the Progressive District and Administrative Assistant under the Prelate, Bishop Johnathan D. Logan, Sr. Superintendent Spicer is happily married to First Lady Natalie Spicer.  Superintendent Spicer is committed to the Kingdom of God and those God has commissioned him to lead. Superintendent Spicer is a humble and peaceful servant who would give all for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church, as exhibited in his manner of expository teaching, preaching, and exuberant worship.