Bishop Marvin Frank Thomas, Sr. was elected the 62nd bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church on July 1, 2014 at the 37th Quadrennial Session & 38th General Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to his election as bishop, he served as the seventh president/dean of The Phillips School of Theology (“The Seminary of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church”) at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the pastor of the Good News Community CME Church in Lithonia, GA. While at ITC, Bishop Thomas also served as the Chair of the Council of Deans and an adjunct instructor.

He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in Sociology from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He also earned the Master of Divinity degree from The Phillips School of Theology at The ITC and the Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

He has served as the pastor of Walls Memorial CME Church in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to his tenure as pastor of Walls Memorial, he served as pastor of other congregations in the CME Church and presiding elder in the states of Alabama and Tennessee. He has also served as the Vice President for Student Affairs and a member of the Religion faculty at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. He has also served as a member of the Religion faculty and Student Services staff at Stillman College.

Presently, Bishop Thomas serves as the presiding bishop of the Second Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, which includes the Kentucky and Ohio Central Indiana Regions. He also serves as the chair of the denomination’s Department of Lay Ministry and the acting pastor of the Metropolitan Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bishop Thomas is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is the second of six children born to Mrs. Minnie Thomas Brown. Bishop Thomas has two children, Kourtney Lea Thomas and Marvin Frank Thomas, Jr., and one grandson, Kameron.