About Bishop Thomas Alvin Body

Bishop T.A. Body

One Accord Community Church of God in Christ
Atlanta, GA

Bishop Thomas Alvin Body, the third of four children, born to John and Rena Body, has been the blessed recipient of Holy Instruction at the feet of his mother, who was a faithful member of the Church of God in Christ until her demise. The difficult conditions of life forced upon African Americans prompted his parents to encourage young Thomas to pursue a sound academic foundation. Their efforts were rewarded by his completion of high school at the young age of fifteen. further academic pursuits followed at Bishop College, East Dallas College, Dallas Christian College, and John F. Kennedy University where he received his Masters Degree in Psychology. He then graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Doctorate Degree in Psychology from Strassford University.

Wheatley Church of God in Christ became home for Bishop Body under the leadership of the late Elder Wilson Tolbert. He was licensed and ordained by the late Bishop F. L. Haynes, Prelate of Texas Northeast Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. Bishop Body has been involved with the C.O.G.I.C. in many different facets and on many different levels. He served faithfully at St. James C.O.G.I.C. under the leadership of the late Bishop Williams James. It was through his faithfulness to his pastor the Bishop James appointed him as the First Administrative Assistant of the International Youth Congress. As his conviction to reach lost souls became more widely known, he became appointed by the International Church of God in Christ's Board of Evangelism as it's National Coordinator. Dr. Body has appeared on several syndicated television and radio broadcast programs; with his focus constantly being on reaching the lost and exhorting the brethren to be confident in the Word of God. Dr. Body and his family were featured in the 25th Anniversary Edition of Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family magazine. Dr. Body has been editor-in-chief of several newspapers, a radio disc-jockey at KNOK 970 a.m.; the number one station in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He is a trained psychologist, marital counselor, theologian and teacher extraordinaire. Dr. Body is known as the "preacher's preacher. He continues to electrify vast audiences with messages like; "God is Smart," "Potiphar's House," "Strange Way We've Come, but it was God Who Brought Us," and "I think It's Time for God to Write Again."

In 1983, at the request of the late Bishop John Dale Husband, the prelate of the Central Georgia Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ; Dr. Body came to pastor the One Accord Community Church of God in Christ in Atlanta, Georgia. The services were held in the Ida Prather YWCA; where it quickly grew from eight members to one hundred-fifty in six months. When the membership outgrew the YWCA, the Lord opened a door at the Days Inn motel, where the church experienced continuous growth and had to relocate to its present edifice, where the member is currently over 700 persons.

Bishop Body now serves as the Senior Bishop of the Georgia General Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, headquartered at his home church, One Accord C.O.G.I.C in Decatur, Ga., as he continues in his mandate to "Maintain the Integrity of the Gospel." Bishop Body is happily married to the formerly Darlene Annette Foster and they are the proud parents of seven-living children, twenty-four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.