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Pastor Darlene Body, a third generation Pentecostal, is the fourth child born to Church of God in Christ Pastor and Superintendent, Elder John D. Foster and Mother Dollie D. Foster, in Forth Worth, Texas. Her family later relocated to Minnesota where she attended North High School and went on to attend the College of St. Teresa and Southwest Minnesota State College.
During her early years, Darlene began to sense the Lord’s calling on her life, when she began to work in the ministry of her father’s church, Faith Temple Church of God in Christ. She was the Choir Director, a Sunday School teacher and led many teams in fundraising, which ultimately helped her mother and father payoff the mortgage of their church. She was then, as she is now, an avid church worker. A young Darlene served as the Minneapolis District YPWW Chairlady for the Minnesota Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ and she was a Choir Director for the Minnesota State Choir, she was a faithful member and supporter of her father’s ministry and the state work, until she met and married, the Elder T. A. Body and relocated to California. She is now the Co-Pastor of the Church of One Accord at Decatur in Decatur, Georgia and works diligently in the service of the Lord with her husband, the Bishop T. A. Body, Sr.
Pastor Darlene Body
Through the mentoring of her husband, in 1999, Pastor Body heeded the call, and told God she would “preach the Gospel.” She has received many accolades in the church and in the community for her civic contributions, including opening the One Accord Child Development Center and Summer Camp Programs, where she focused on the needs of under-privileged families and children with special needs. She has never turned anyone away.
In 1992, Pastor Body founded the Heart to Heart Women’s Ministry; which is a ministry that focuses on the needs, goals and aspirations of women. Through this ministry and her love for women, Pastor Body has contributed thousands of dollars toward the college education of many young women and men in the church. She hopes to create a new scholarship fund in the name of her friend and sister, Mother Sarah Watson Moses, to continue this effort. She holds an Annual Heart to Heart Fellowship for women, a “Fire Side Chat,” and is the Overseer of the Young Women’s Christian Council.
In addition to her many accomplishments as First Lady and Pastor, Pastor Body is an anointed and accomplished vocalist, having sang with the original cast of the Sounds of Blackness; she has also been the psalmist for her husband at many national conventions and on television programs. Pastor Body was also the co-host of Bishop Body’s LifeLine 2000 Talk Radio Show. Pastor Body is a “hands on,” leader, an intercessor and an extraordinary preacher; she fascinates audiences with such God-given messages as “I’m Not Drunk, I’m Just Desperate (1 Samuel 1:1-18) and “Please Don’t Be Trippin’, When It’s Time for Dippin’! (2 Kings 5).
Pastor Body is the mother of seven living children: Thomas Jr., Vikki, Sherai, Beverly, Patrick, Eyoury and Eumika; grandmother of 24 and the great-grandmother of seven. Her love and compassion for her family and others, is proof that she is… “an excellent woman” (Proverbs 31).