Leadership - upci.org

UPCI LEADERSHIP

General Superintendent

David K. Bernard

David K. Bernard is the general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International, which has about 6 million constituents in 45,000 churches in more than 200 nations. He founded New Life Church of Austin, Texas, out of which 16 additional churches were started under his leadership. He was the founding president and currently is the chancellor of Urshan University. He earned the Master and Doctor of Theology in New Testament from the University of South Africa, Doctor of Jurisprudence with honors from the University of Texas, and Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in mathematical sciences and managerial studies from Rice University. The author of 30 books and 11 booklets with circulation of over one million, he has been published in 43 languages and has ministered in 84 countries and territories on seven continents. He and his wife, Connie, have three children and eight grandchildren.

Superintendent's Page

Stan Gleason

Assistant General Superintendent

Stan Gleason is the assistant general superintendent from the Western Zone of the UPCI. He has been the senior pastor of The Life Church in Kansas City since 1988. He also has served on the Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology Board of Trustees and as superintendent of the Missouri District.

Darrel Johns

Assistant General Superintendent

Darrell Johns is the assistant general superintendent of the UPCI’s Eastern Zone. He also is the pastor of Atlanta West Pentecostal Church, where he has served since 1995. Johns has a long history of service to the UPCI, including serving as president of UPCI Youth Ministries, president of Gateway College of Evangelism (now Urshan College), and as superintendent of the UPCI’s Georgia District. He and his wife, Carol, have three sons, Ryan (wife Kinsie), Joel (wife Alonda), and Justin (wife Theresa), and several grandchildren.

Scott Graham

General Secretary-Treasurer

Scott Graham serves as the general secretary of the United Pentecostal Church International. A native of Illinois, he studied at the University of Illinois and Gateway College of Evangelism before beginning full-time Christian ministry. Through the years he served local churches in various capacities, culminating with fifteen years of pastoral leadership in St. Louis, Missouri. He has filled numerous sectional, district, and general offices for the UPCI, including time in all three executive positions in Youth Ministries (formerly General Youth Division). He also is an international speaker and a published author, and serves on numerous boards and committees. He and his wife Michelle have two children, Jeremy and Jessica, and a son-in-law, Braxton Powell.

Billy Babb

Chief Administrative Officer

Billy Babb has served as the chief administrative officer for the UPCI since 2012. He also served as the administrator for Pentecostal Publishing House from 2007–2012. He has a bi-vocational background in corporate finance and management and has served in various ministry positions since attending college at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He is married to Anita Haymon Babb. The couple has two children, Miranda Carter and Logan Babb.

Steve Cannon

Children’s Ministries Director

Steve L. Cannon is the general director of Children’s Ministries. Before coming to UPCI World Headquarters, he was the pastor of First United Pentecostal Church in Batesville, Mississippi, for twenty-one years. Prior to this, he was an evangelist for four years and an assistant pastor for eight years. He also was a weekly radio speaker on The Pentecostal Hour for twenty-three years. He and his wife, Rita, were married in 1978 and have three daughters, Vangi, Kandi, and Mauri, and eight grandchildren: McKaLyne, Kanon, Jenna, Kade, Danika, Halli Rae, Annaleigh, and Darlynn Grace.

D. J. Hill

Youth Ministries President

D. J. Hill was elected as general youth president of UPCI Youth Ministries in 2023 after serving three years as director of promotions. He previously served with Georgia District Youth Ministries for five years, during which time he also was on the pastoral team at Atlanta West Pentecostal Church, under the leadership of Pastor Darrell Johns. Hill has effectively ministered at camps, rallies, revivals, and everything in between.

Hill is a graduate of Urshan College, and he earned a master of theological studies from Urshan Graduate School of Theology. He and his wife, Natalie, are the parents of three children, Kailayah, Eira, and Alaythia. Hill enjoys reading, playing sports, and spending quality time with his family and friends.

Jane Buford

Ladies Ministries President

Jane Buford was elected president of Ladies Ministries in 2025 after serving as secretary for ten years. Ladies Ministries has played a significant role in her life since before her birth, beginning when her parents received the Holy Ghost during a Kinzie Evangelism Team revival. Jane and her husband, Dr. P. Daniel Buford, have ministered for more than forty-five years. They cherish their two sons and six grandchildren.

Paul Pamer

Men’s Ministries Director

Paul Pamer and his wife, Brooke, are the senior pastors of Apostolic Church in Barberton, Ohio. Paul Pamer has served at Apostolic Church since 1997, and he and Brooke became senior pastors in 2013. He became director of UPCI Men’s Ministries in 2025.

The Pamers have been married since 2003 and are the parents of two children, Sullivan and Marlowe. Paul Pamer studied at Indiana Bible College, Malone University, and the University of Akron. In his spare time, he enjoys carpentry and running.

Adam Hunley

Global Missions Director

Adam Hunley was elected to serve as general director of UPCI Global Missions in 2023. Prior to this, he was director of the Eurasia/North Africa region. He and his wife, Maya, have been full-time missionaries with the UPCI since 2008. They have spent much of their ministry planting churches and training leaders in access-challenged nations.

Scott Sistrunk

North American Missions Director

Scott Sistrunk has served as the general director of North American Missions since 2018. Prior to this, he and his wife, Karla, spent 21 years planting churches in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Sistrunks have been involved in church leadership, missions, and church planting since graduating from Jackson College of Ministries in 1987. This includes 10 months working in South Africa as temporary replacements for a veteran missionary. The Sistrunks also were among the first participants in the Metro Missions program, a North American Missions initiative dedicated to establishing new churches in metropolitan areas. In addition, the Sistrunks have three children and four grandchildren.

Robin M. Johnston

Editor in Chief and Publisher

Robin Johnston serves as the editor in chief and publisher for the United Pentecostal Church International. He holds a BA from Gateway College of Evangelism, a MATS from Covenant Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Regent University. He is the author of Howard Goss: A Pentecostal Life and co-author with David K. Bernard of On Being Pentecostal as well as numerous journal and periodical articles.

Johnston and his wife, Marsha, are parents to three children and grandparents to six.

Rick Lovall

The Stewardship Group Director

Rick Lovall became the director of The Stewardship Group in 2023 after serving as the assistant director since 2019. In addition, he is the president of the Church Loan Fund and the United Pentecostal Foundation, and he sits on the board of both United Insurance Solutions, Inc., and United Pentecostal Properties, LLC. As an ordained minister, he previously served as a pastor for nine years. Lovall has a degree in Banking from the Barret School of Banking at Christian Brothers University and more than fifteen years of experience in banking and commercial lending. He and his wife, Kelby, have two sons, Easton and Parker.

Brocc Chavis

Director of Multicultural Ministries

Brocc Chavis is the director of UPCI Multicultural Ministries. As a Native American Indian of the Lumbee Tribe, he is honored to lead a ministry that focuses on evangelizing the diverse cultures of North America. He previously served 14 years in the finance industry and was a district youth president and director of the Apostolic Youth Corps program. He and his family reside in North Carolina, where Chavis serves as pastor of United | The Pentecostal Church of Spring Lake. He and his wife, Randi, have been married since 2001. The couple has five children.

Dave Henry

Building the Bridge Ministries Director

Dave Henry is the founding pastor of The Pentecostals of Stone Mountain in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He and his wife, Tonda, planted the church in 1999. In addition to serving as the director of Building the Bridge Ministries, he is a member of the Georgia District Board. He and Tonda are the parents of four children.

John Burnett

Spanish Evangelism Ministries Director

John E. Burnett, Jr. has served as the director of Spanish Evangelism Ministries (SEM) since 2021. He is a citizen of both Panama and the United States, a US Army veteran, and the founding pastor of Tabernáculo De Vida in Houston, Texas, which he and his wife, Berenice, planted in 1999. He also has traveled extensively as an international evangelist.

John and Berenice Burnett are blessed with three children, a daughter-in-law, and one grandchild.

Dan Butler

Office of Education & Endorsement Chairman

Daniel L. Butler, DMin, is the chairman of the UPCI’s Office of Education and Endorsement. Dr. Butler also is the bishop of International Pentecostal Church in Bellflower, California, where he and his wife, Pamela, served as pastors for 30 years. Dr. Butler has been an ordained minister with the UPCI for 40 years and has served in many local, district, and national leadership positions. He presently serves as an adjunct professor at Urshan Graduate School of Theology and at Christian Service Training Institute. Dr. Butler and his wife are the grandparents of three grandsons.

Raymond A. Robinson, Jr.

Military Chaplaincy Endorsing Agent

Raymond Robinson serves as the UPCI military chaplaincy endorsing agent. He is a US Army veteran who served four years as a flight operations coordinator and 28 years as a UPCI army chaplain. During his time as a chaplain, he served on five continents, in 12 countries, and at every echelon within the US Army, from the battalion level to the Department of the Army. He retired in December 2021 after 32 years of service. Robinson and his wife, Loida, have three children.

Flo Shaw

World Network of Prayer Director

Flo Shaw is the director of the UPCI World Network of Prayer. She and her husband, Dwayne Shaw, also serve as pastors of New Life Temple, a church they planted in Austin, Texas, as part of the New Life Austin network of churches. Her ministry has taken her across North America and around the world. Sister Shaw earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Louisiana State University and previously worked as a chemist, editor, accountant, and grant writer before entering full-time ministry.