The Biographical Sketch
of
The Right Reverend David M. Copeland
Bishop David Michael Copeland is a native of Buffalo, New York and currently serves as Senior Pastor of New Creation Christian Fellowship of San Antonio, Texas. His early training was in the Baptist Church. At the age of 18, he was saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit and began a new phase of growth in the Lord in the Church of God in Christ. He was called to the ministry and licensed as a minister in 1969 and ordained in 1974.
Bishop Copeland completed his undergraduate education at the State University of New York at Brockport where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology and Speech Communications with a minor in Philosophy. He continued his studies at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia where he earned the Master of Divinity Degree in Church Administration. His seminary training also includes study at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York. In May 1992, Bishop Copeland completed the Doctorate of Ministry at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
Bishop Copeland also served as the founding Pastor of Good Shepherd Church of God in Christ in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Pastor of LeRoy Baptist Church in New York. He was also the Chaplain and Deputy Sheriff of the Dekalb County (Georgia) Department of Corrections.
Bishop Copeland was elevated to the Episcopacy in June of 1998 and he is the Founder and Overseer of the Kingdom Council of Interdependent Christian Churches and Ministries. This Council is an interdependent, interdenominational, international fellowship of churches and ministries dedicated to perfecting the church and impacting the communities they serve.
Dr. Copeland currently serves on the FICWFM (Fellowship of Inner City Word of Faith Ministries) Board under the leadership of Dr. Frederick K.C. Price. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Christian Haitian Outreach (headquarters in Port Au Prince, Haiti). The Bishop serves as the Secretary on the Board of the Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops under the leadership of The Most Reverend J. Delano Ellis, II.
He and his wife, The Reverend Dr. Claudette A. Copeland, have been married for more than 34 years. They were high school sweethearts. Together, they founded New Creation after serving seven years in the United States Air Force Chaplaincy. The Copelands were the first active duty African American couple in the United States Air Force Chaplaincy.
Bishop Copeland along with the 2,000 membership of New Creation purchased new facilities to include a 2,400 seat sanctuary and office complex in December of 2000 strategically located at the crossroads of the city of San Antonio. Inspired with vision for Kingdom ministry, Bishop Copeland continues to avail himself to the move of God, sharing vision and inspiration with churches and ministries in the Kingdom of God.
After more than 40 years in ministry, Bishop Copeland believes that God's church should be a caring community equipping the saints to "take the Kingdom of God" by force!