Pastoral Heritage

FOUNDER LILLIAN VELMA LASLEY MASON was born in Hart County, Kentucky to John Lasley and Ellen Reed on October 1, 1890. She was educated in the Pleasant Orchard Schools of Kentucky. On September 17, 1908, she was united in marriage to John Mason, a union that lasted until his death in 1946. There were no children. After coming to Indianapolis in the fall of 1918, she was baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the Holy Ghost under the pastorate of Bishop G. T. Haywood. The late Bishop Edwin Vaughn said of her, "Dedication would just cover her life; she was a woman who just stood out among women." On August 13, 1975 at age 84, she passed away. It has been said, "Whenever you see the church at 3412 Prospect Street, you see a monument to the life sacrifice of a woman who had a vision to work for God."

BISHOP JAMES OBA FRANKLIN was born in LaVergne, Tennessee on November 1, 1921, to Oba James and Nancy Leann Franklin. Having moved to Indianapolis as a young child, he received his education at Indianapolis Public School 17 and Crispus Attucks High School. On January 31, 1941, at the age of 19, he was filled with the Holy Ghost at Christ Temple Apostolic Church under the pastorate of Elder Robert Tobin. On June 8, 1946, he and the former Marian Perkins were united in marriage. Eleven children are the offspring of this union: Stephen, Paul, Marshall, Bishop Jonathan, Teresa Franklin Kilpatrick, David, Anita Franklin Preddie, Timothy, Gordon, Nancy Franklin Gates, and Kathleen Preddie. He worked 24 years for the U.S. Post Office as a carrier, technician, and job instructor. In 1967 he became pastor of Mt. Zion (then Christ Temple No. 2), and in May 1971, resigned from the Post Office to devote full attention to the pastorate. He was elevated to the office of bishop by the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith in 1975. He passed away on November 27, 1987 at age 66.

BISHOP LAMBERT WADE GATES, SR., was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 31, 1958, to Leroy, Sr., and Elise Anna Wade Gates. When he was six months old, his mother died, and from the age of two, was raised by his father and stepmother, Minnie Gates. On March 28, 1970, at age 11, he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost under the pastorate of Bishop David Collins. He graduated with honors at age 16 from Henry Ford High School, and continued his education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he majored in English. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1980. Before coming to Indianapolis, he taught English at Osborne High School in Detroit. On December 11, 1988, he was installed as the third pastor of Mt. Zion. In 1996, he was elevated to the office of bishop by the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith. In October 2007, he assumed full leadership of Greater Apostolic Faith Temple in Detroit when he was elected senior pastor following the death of his longtime friend and father in the gospel Bishop Nemiah Smith. He married Nancy J. Franklin, a daughter of the late Bishop Franklin, on July 23, 1989. They have two sons, Lambert, Jr., and Cameron.