Meet The Pastor
Pastor W. Stephen Baron
I am 50 years old, married to my beautiful wife, Marcy G. Baron, of 23 years in December. I have two kids; my son BJ, 28, married with two kids as well (12 and 2 Years) and my daughter is a 23-year-old hairstylist, both living in Durham, NC.
I'm originally from Winston-Salem, NC by way of St. Louis, MO; Baton Rouge, LA; Warren, OH; Albany, GA; ATL; Douglas, GA; Durham, NC; and Tampa; FL.
I gave my life to Christ at 15 in 1985 after being Catholic all my life. God called me into the ministry that year.
I was a music major from North Carolina Central University. That's where I met my pastor who started the gospel choir, Worship and Praise Inspirational Mass Choir (WPI) on campus. That was 1988-89. Minister John Bennett from Bible Way Churches World Wide started the Church of the Apostolic Revival in June of 1990. I joined that November. I got confirmation of my calling that same month. I preached my initial message March of 1992. I was
As the ministry grew, I grew as a man and a man of God. I organized a city-wide March for Life Crusade against violent crimes in Durham, NC, was a part of a Truce event between the Crips and Bloods, fed the homeless, built homes for Habitat for Humanity and playgrounds for KaBoom! throughout NC, fought against civil injustice in the city, hosted and promoted multiple talent showcases and open mic events in the community for 7 years. I was also youth minister for 4 years.
In 1996, I married my lovely and precious wife, Marcy Giselle Lenay Wiggins, the Deacon’s daughter, at the time.
I am also a spoken word artist and recipient of the Most Influential Poet of the Year in 2010.
Minister Bennett became Elder, then District Elder, then Bishop (youngest at the time) and ten years ago ordained and confirmed Apostle. After the church had grown to 800 members in 2012, I was ordained as Pastor. I was promoted to Chief Outreach Officer and Pastor of Outreach.
Due to extenuating circumstances and my mother's lung cancer recovery, my wife and I temporarily moved to Tampa January 2018. We were only supposed to be here for 3 months. God said otherwise.
Hence why we are still here now. God said to start a ministry here. Then my Apostle called a few weeks later and said that God showed him the same thing.