Assistant Pastor
Twitter: @ReverendJackie
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.
Her desire to help people by alleviating the conditions that seemed to keep them disenfranchised led her to pursue politics. 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. While teaching afforded her the opportunity to positively impact the lives of young people, God was calling her to a higher purpose. In March of 1995, Reverend Thompson accepted her call to ministry and 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 Emeritus of the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, California.
Her journey towards God’s purpose for her life led her to the 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 Reverend Dr. Wallace Charles Smith. Under her dynamic leadership, the Youth Ministry at Shiloh flourished and served as a model ministry for churches nationwide.
In November 2001, she took over as Executive Director of the Shiloh Family Life Center Foundation, Inc., the non-profit outreach arm of Shiloh Baptist Church. During her tenure, she raised over five million dollars in funding to support the community outreach programs of the foundation, including an After school program, Senior center, Daycare center, HIV/AIDS program, Human Services Program, Community Computer Center, Debutante program and Teen mothers empowerment program.
Despite her giftedness as an administrator, her true passion is preaching and teaching God’s word. 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. 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 addition to serving as the first women to preach in many prominent pulpits across the country, she was the first ever female revivalist for Allen Temple Baptist Church and the first and only woman to preach Men’s Day in the 150 year history of the Shiloh Baptist Church.
In keeping with the ‘ministry of firsts’ God has given her, in March 2010, Reverend Thompson was installed as the Assistant Pastor of the Allen Temple Baptist Church—the first woman to ever serve in this capacity in the 91-year history of the pioneering congregation.
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 BET.com, which featured her as one of the “Next Spiritual Leaders to Make History.”
Reverend Thompson continues to challenge herself academically and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in African American Church Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
For all her accolades, Reverend Thompson remains humble and focused. 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.
