JAMES A WILLIAMS, II
James A. Williams, Jr. was born to the union of Reverend James A. Williams, Sr. and Marjorie LaVern Williams on March 7, 1956. He never remembers a time when he didn’t love church, which was evidenced at an early age. While still a toddler, music captured his attention. He was the musician at his father’s church by the time he was thirteen. James spent childhood into adulthood as an accomplished gospel pianist and organist, soloist and composer. He was active in the Gospel Music Workshop of America, eventually becoming a Chapter Representative. His participation with the Workshop led him to a close relationship with the former Executive Director, Ed Smith, who brought James on his radio program and sat him behind the microphone. A new passion was born, and after graduating from Specs Howard School of Braodcasting, the young musician began a career as a noted gospel announcer on numerous radio stations, carrying the moniker “J.A. the Gospel D.J.” Still pursuing his first love, James served as Minister of Music at several leading churches in the metropolitan Detroit area for nearly thirty years. Nearly half of that time was spent in service at the Twelfth Street Missionary Baptist Church.
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It was while working at Twelfth Street Church that James accepted his call to the ministry of proclamation. He confessed his call to his pastor, Reverend Lee A. Earl and set a date to take his parents to dinner to share the news. His father went into the hospital with congestive heart failure two days before that dinner was scheduled. He died three weeks before James preached his initial sermon, not seeing what he had prayed for when his son was born. Pressing on, James preached his initial sermon on Sunday, April 5, 1992, and received his ministerial license later that year. He was ordained on January 19, 1997 at the El-Shaddai Missionary Baptist Church in Ferndale, MI., under the pastorate of Pastor Bennie Holmes, with Pastor Earl in attendance.
The following month, the newly-ordained minister accepted a contractual position as Lead Pastor of Christian Fellowship Non-Denominational Church of Detroit. Reverend Williams served at Christian Fellowship until August of 1997, when he was led by the Holy Spirit not to renew his contract. When he notified the Board a month earlier of his departure, the children of Christian Fellowship begged him to consider starting a ministry, as did many of the adults. But it was the faces of the children that caused him to pray and allow the Holy Spirit to lead him to organize Spirit & Truth Christian Ministries, holding their first service the very next Sunday after leaving Christian Fellowship.
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Spirit & Truth grew steadily. The young pastor was more concerned with helping believers grow in their faith than seeing the church grow to large numbers. But the church was strong and drew much attention. After serving as an overseer for two years, the hand of elevation fell upon Pastor Williams when he was consecrated by the Right Reverend Lewis E. Evans as a Bishop in the Lord’s Church on July 1, 2001, under the auspices of the Soul-winners, Evangelism and Disciple-makers Interdenominational Fellowship.
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In the year 2003, Bishop Williams was appointed as Secretary for the International Conference of Bishops, under the leadership of Bishop C. L. Morton Jr. In January of 2004, he was selected to serve as President of the Detroit Coalition of People Aspiring to Create Hope (P.A.T.C.H.), an organization of more than 150 interdenominational churches from the greater Detroit area, committed to improving economic and sociological conditions for citizens of the region.
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The hand of elevation fell upon Bishop Williams again on February 22, 2004, as he advanced to the office of Presiding Prelate of the Kingdom Builders Association of Full Gospel Churches & Ministries, (now known as Kingdom Churches United.) In this role, he offers himself as a confidant and counselor for pastors who seek his guidance and spiritual covering, and as a father in ministry to the churches and parachurch ministries over which they preside. He continues to serve in this role in addition to accepting, in 2009, a seat on the Executive Council of the Kingdom Alliance Covenant Fellowship of Churches under Bishop Edgar L. Vann, II. In 2011, Bishop Vann appointed Bishop Williams as the First Assistant Presiding Prelate of KACF.
He is the former chairperson of the Detroit Community Clergy Alliance, a group seeking to mitigate crime and violence in our city through the ministry of prayer and presence. He also served briefly as Detroit Chairman of Michigan Prophetic Voices, a statewide organization of clergy representatives who are concerned with advancing the cause of poor and underserved communities. He has worked with the Harriet Tubman Center of Detroit and the Michigan Organizing Collaborative in a project to create a culture of voting in underserved communities. He has done considerable work on TCT Television, The Word Network and the Impact Network as a cohost of various programs as well as his work on radio.
Pastor Williams is a leader with a passion for training up other leaders and is now seeing many of his young charges move into ministerial positions with churches and fellowships across the metro area. No less than five churches in metro Detroit are currently being pastored by ministers trained by Bishop Williams in the Ministerial Alliance of Spirit & Truth Christian Ministries.
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On a professional level, James currently serves as Faith Based Program Manager for Crime Stoppers of Michigan. Under his guidance, the number of affiliate churches has risen from around 75 to nearly 250 in a seven year period.
In March of 2012, James opened another chapter in his life, publishing his first book: The Book According to James:
Timely Truths for Victorious Living. His second book, Opening the Windows of Heaven: Unlocking the Biblical Principles of First Fruit, Tithes & Offerings was published in January of 2017. He is currently working on several manuscripts to be released in 2021/2022, believing that God desires to use him to deliver a balanced word in an unbalanced world.
The man of God successfully juggles his pastorate, bishopric and professional responsibilities with his duties as a husband
and father. He and his wife, Kelli Renee Williams, are blessed with six children. Between their five adult offspring and four others who were raised as foster/adoptive children in their home, James and Kelli have raised up four ministers of the
gospel.
Currently, James serves as a Board Member of the Northwest Activities Center and a member of the Ministerial Advisory Council of the Detroit Medical Center.
Grateful for the expanding opportunities technology affords, Bishop James A. Williams, II is focused on fulfilling the
mandate and ministry to which God has called him, preaching a balanced word in an unbalanced world, and raising up
believers who live victoriously while declaring to the world that we are unapologetically Christian.
WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
If there were only one word we could share with you to strengthen and encourage you on your journey, it would be the word, “Live!” Live, because Jesus came that you might have and enjoy life; have it to the full until it overflows. Live above the chaos that seeks to capsize your dreams. Live each day as though you’ve already won because you already have. Live as though your life has purpose and meaning because it does. Live as though you are the apple of God’s eye, because you are. Take a deep breath. Now—Live!