Rev. Dr. George Kugblenu – Senior Pastor

was born in Ghana, West Africa to the late Hope Ashong and Seth Kugblenu. He obtained a B.A. in Business Management and Economics with the minors in Accounting and Political Science from Shaw University; a Master of Public Affairs from North Carolina State University and a PhD in Political Science from Atlanta University.

He lectured for a year in the Department of Political Science at Shaw University; taught for 10 years in the Department of Public Administration at Atlanta University and served as the Chairman of the Department in six of those years. He served as Ghana’s Ambassador to Algeria with concurrent accreditation to Tunisia, Mauritania and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic {Western Sahara}. After his diplomatic tour, he joined the Presidential think-tank and advisory team. The Policy Management Group {PMG} in the Office of the President reporting directly to the then Vice President, Professor John A Mills, who was currently the President of Ghana at that time. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of the W.E.B. Dubois Memorial Center in Accra, Ghana.

He taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for several years and preached on three Continents. In 2001 he was licensed at Emmanuel Baptist Church under Rev. Alex White Sr. and Ordained as a Minister of the Gospel by The Charleston County Missionary Baptist Association in 2003. He currently serves as Sr. Pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church and he is involved in the City-Wide prayer movement, Without Walls Ministry, Friends of Israel Always, previously a Board Member of the James Island Outreach Ministry and he was the President of the James Island Interfaith Action Committee until December of 2017. He is married to the former Karen Washington and this union is blessed with a son named Seth.