Our Founder

In the year of 1958, Bishop Grady Cooks received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Two years later, God called Bishop Cooks into the ministry. He was under the leadership of the late Bishop R.C. Lawson and the late Bishop H.D. Jones.  

The United Church of God started out in the year of 1969. During that time our place of worship was in the home of the saints here in Johnston, SC. In the year of 1970 the Lord blessed the saints with a permanent place of worship. Once a month, for 12 years Bishop Cooks traveled 750 miles one-way to be with the people of God in Johnston, SC. Later, God blessed him and his wife (the late Sister Virginia Cooks) to make South Carolina their home.