Jacqueline Thompson

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With a practical and often humorous style of speaking that combines thorough biblical scholarship and “girlfriend” wit, Reverend Jacqueline Thompson speaks directly to the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life, helping them discover their purpose and destiny in Christ.

As a young girl growing up in the Northern California city of Oakland, Reverend Thompson was reared in a single parent home where her mother laid the foundation that would become her own personal relationship with God. “I thank God for my mother,” she says. “She instilled in me the importance of a life of faith and obedience by her example.” With her mother’s guidance, Reverend Thompson accepted Christ at an early age and began serving in various capacities in the church.

It became apparent to all who met the vibrant and intelligent young woman that she was destined for great things. She had a remarkable, God-given ability to counsel, encourage, and uplift everyone she encountered. Her desire to help people by alleviating the conditions that seemed to keep them disenfranchised led her to pursue politics as a vocation. With that in mind, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley where she majored in Political Economy of Industrial Societies.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1993, Reverend Thompson began teaching history and politics in one of Oakland’s toughest high schools. While teaching afforded her the opportunity to positively impact the lives of young people academically and socially, God was calling her to a much higher purpose. In March of 1995, Reverend Thompson accepted her call to ministry, with both excitement and trepidation. “I had a vision of my life and being in ministry did not fit that vision,” She says. “But I trusted that the Lord knew best, and I have never regretted the decision to answer His call.” She was subsequently licensed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in July of 1995 and ordained to the ministry in October of 1998 by Reverend Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., Pastor of the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, California.

Her journey towards God’s purpose for her life led her 3,000 miles away from her native Oakland to Washington, D. C. where she enrolled in the prestigious Howard University School of Divinity under the academic leadership of respected theologian Dr. Cain Hope Felder. Her excellence in academic scholarship, preaching and ministry earned her numerous honors and awards including Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, The Ford Foundation Fellowship, and the Nannie Helen Burroughs Award. She was awarded a Masters of Divinity Degree with honors from Howard University in 1998.

During her time at Howard, she served as the Minister of Youth at the Shiloh Baptist Church of Washington, D. C. under the Pastoral leadership of the Reverend Dr. Wallace Charles Smith. Under her dynamic leadership, the Youth Ministry at Shiloh flourished and served as a model ministry for churches nationwide. She began to see that the ministry God had called her to would fulfill her deepest desire to help transform the lives of people, through the power of His word.

In November 2001, she took a position as Executive Director of the Shiloh Family Life Center Foundation, Inc. To date, she has succeeded in raising over two million dollars in funding to help support the community outreach programs of the foundation, including an after school program, senior center, daycare center, HIV/AIDS program, Human Services Project, Community Computer Center, Debutante program and Teen mothers empowerment program.

Despite her giftedness as a program administrator, her true passion is preaching and teaching God¹s word. Reverend Thompson travels extensively across the United States and the Caribbean, ministering to youth, women and the general Body of Christ at churches, conferences, retreats and workshops. She has had the privilege of preaching in many arenas previously uncharted by women in ministry, including serving as the first ever female revivalist for Allen Temple Baptist Church and the first woman to preach Men’s Day in the 150 year history of the Shiloh Baptist Church. Her unique preaching style and sound biblical foundation has opened doors across denominational lines as well as in mainstream civic and political organizations, including the National Urban League and the National Council of Negro Women.

An adventurer at heart, she is constantly seeking new ways to encourage and uplift God¹s people and in 2000, she was afforded the opportunity to impact the Body of Christ through the written word. She served as the editorial assistant and a contributing writer for The Women of Color Study Bible and Promises for Women of Color. “I really enjoyed working on the Women of Color project. The written word is so powerful—it allows you to deposit something tangible in people, even though you may never meet them personally.”

Her numerous accomplishments have garnered her recognition by her peers as well as the national media, including the African American Pulpit, which selected her as one of the “20 Ministers to Watch” and www.BET.com, which featured her as one of the “Next Spiritual Leaders to Make History,” along with other such notable leaders as Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant and Rev. Tony Lee.

Reverend Thompson is currently pursuing her Doctorate in African American Church Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

For all her accolades, Reverend Thompson remains humble and focused. “I consider it a privilege to be used of God in any capacity.”  She says. “I just want to do live out my call and in some way help people to discover their purpose and experience the victory that comes with life in Christ.” She understands that “man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” She is a child of the Most High God and is excited to have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself.