Business and political leader, philanthropist, and pastor to millions, Bishop Thomas D. Jakes, Sr. began fulfilling his call to the ministry by founding and serving as pastor of Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith in 1979 in a small church in a Montgomery, W.Va. with only 1 members. More than 20 years later, he pastors what Christianity Today calls “one of America’s fastest growing mega-churches.” The Potter’s House, a multiracial nondenominational church with 59 active outreach ministries, has dominated church growth records since 1996.