About Us
My name is Pastor Michael Thomas and my wife is First Lady Pammela Thomas. In 2008 we moved from Minnesota to Greenville, SC to establish a new church ministry, according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. By faith, Pammela resigned from her professional social services position in Minnesota. We also left our children, grandchildren, family, friends, and business; believing and trusting God to provide for all of our needs according to his riches in glory as we followed His leading.
We loaded up all of our possessions and relocated to Greenville, unemployed and without any prospects for employment during one of this nation’s worse economic times. But God is faithful and fulfills his promises to those who are in covenant relationship with Him. The Lord blessed Pammela with a part-time manager position and I was favored with part-time employment also. Although we make less than one fourth of our former salaries, God has demonstrated great favor in our lives. Through prayer, fasting, and stepping out in faith for God’s divine provision, we have established The Sanctuary Worship Center and our first worship service was held on May 2nd, 2010.
Pammela has been saved and faithfully serving God since 1978. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
I was a rank sinner who tainted the privileges of my God-given existence by fulfilling youthful lusts and worldly passions. I worked in administration by day and partied at clubs by night. My education was more non-traditional; I served in the U.S. Marines after high school, I completed some college thereafter, and acquired several professional real estate and administration training program certifications.
Back in 1992 God blessed me to meet Pammela at a wedding reception. At the reception Pammela witnessed to me and I began attending church regularly. I finally repented of all my sins and surrendered my life to Jesus. I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins, and I received the precious gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) After a five-month courtship, Pamm and I were joined in holy matrimony.
Eighteen years later, God continues to bless our marriage and love for each other. We grow stronger in our Kingdom relationship with the Lord every day. Together we have raised our four children to adulthood. They are now raising their own families and we are blessed with five precious grandchildren.
In 1995 I acknowledged God’s call on my life to serve in ministry. My apprenticeship commenced under the anointed leadership of Suffragan Bishop AZ Jones, Sr., former Pastor of Apostolic Faith Temple Church (AFT), St. Paul, Minnesota, and under former Co-Pastor AZ Jones, Jr.. Their knowledge, love, guidance, patience, and friendship inspired our personal and spiritual growth. Upon completion of the required Aenon Bible College education program I received my ministerial credentials. In 2004, I was ordained (an Elder) by the honorable Bishop Richard D. Howell, Jr., Diocesan of the M.W.D.D.C. council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.
Pammela and I still benefit greatly from the wisdom and knowledge of our dynamic spiritual mentor and best friend Suffragan Bishop AZ Jones, Jr., the current Pastor of AFT. Both he and his father are humble men anointed with excellent spiritual insight. Their selfless contributions are too many for us to name or repay. We served under their powerful ministry in various capacities until September 2008. God truly blessed us with a double portion of love and anointing by placing great men and women of God in our lives.
We trust God to increase the work of our hands at The Sanctuary Worship Center and we believe He will dispatch the human, financial, and spiritual resources necessary to fulfill His divine purpose through our ministry.