BISHOP BRANDON B. PORTER
Bishop Brandon Burdett Porter is a fourth-generation member of the Church Of God In Christ—the son of Mother Ida M. Porter and late Bishop W. L. Porter, and the grandson of late Elder George T. Flagg who Pastored in Arkansas. Bishop Brandon Porter is a Christian leader par excellence. This is the result of the many years that he faithfully supported his father who founded Greater Community Temple COGIC in Memphis in 1972, organized Tennessee Central Jurisdiction in 1981, and served as a member of the COGIC General Board.
Bishop Porter accepted the call to preach in 1976 and was ordained an Elder in 1978 by Bishop J. O. Patterson, Sr. In that year, he became the Assistant Pastor of Greater Allen Avenue COGIC in Jackson, Tennessee. And in 1981, he was appointed Pastor of Greater Victory Temple, also in Jackson. In 1986, he became District Superintendent, and in 1991 his father appointed him Pastor of the now historic Greater Community Temple COGIC in North Memphis. Under his leadership, the membership of Greater Community Temple (GCT) flourished to over 5,000, and the church expanded to include an additional campus in East Memphis.
Bishop Porter has been an elected official in the Church Of God In Christ for the past 20 years. He has held numerous positions at every level (local, district, jurisdictional, and national). These positions include the Vice-Chairman of the National Trustee Board, President of the International Youth Department, National Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Executive Producer of the “COGIC Today” television show, and Coordinator of Christmas in November. In 2009, he succeeded his father, becoming the Jurisdictional Prelate of the Tennessee Central Jurisdiction. This jurisdiction has since grown to include over 80 churches and counting.
Today, Bishop Porter’s “Touched by the Truth” ministry can be seen and heard by millions via television, radio, and social media. He is also an inspired writer, touching thousands with his transformative books: Filling God’s House, A Reason to Keep Going, It’s Time to Be Filled, You Have Been Planted, Speaking Life, Except They Be Sent, The Multicultural Church: True or False, and So You Want to Be A Bishop.
In 2012, Bishop Porter was elected to the twelve-member General Board, the Presidium of the Church Of God In Christ, and re-elected in 2016 where he continues to diligently serve. Bishop Porter’s influence is recognized by other reformations, and in 2017 he was chosen to be on the Board of Directors for the Conference of National Black Churches (CNBC).
In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic changed everything—especially pastoring. A man about God’s business, Bishop Porter kept Greater Community Temple open. He made GCT an essential function for the community’s health, providing safe in-person worship, prayer, counseling, communion, weddings, funerals, and distribution of masks and food, simultaneously streaming live worship and Bible Study world-wide for the sick, shut-in, and all who hunger for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Though having extensive ecclesiastical responsibilities at home and abroad, Bishop Porter is a graduate of University of Memphis and a successful businessman like his father, serving as CEO of several community developments in Tennessee. With all of this, Bishop still manages to spend quality time with his graceful wife Melody, a registered nurse. They have two God-fearing sons: Brandon II, a graduate of Morehouse and Memphis business man; and Bryson, a senior at University of Memphis and video producer, married to Kristen, an educator.