OUR OVERSEER
Suffragan Bishop Leonia Palmer
Leonia Palmer was born on March 15, 1943, in Pelham, North Carolina, to Charlie and Pernie Kate Barksdale. Leonia was to experience great pains, even in her childhood, with the loss of her mother and father before reaching her teens. These losses thrust her into a leadership role in her home as a child, a role which was preparing her for the greater responsibility that lay ahead, even though she did not know it at the time.
On July 11, 1959, Leonia Palmer was joined in Holy Matrimony to the late John Henry Palmer. To this union twelve children were born, nine of which are still alive today. The theme of suffering and leadership
were continued even in marriage, as illness griped the life of Minister John Palmer. Through many years of sickness, Pastor Palmer remained faithfully by the side of her husband while balancing the delicate roles of wife, mother, and pastor.
Leonia Palmer gave her life to Christ in 1965, under the leadership of our former Pastor, Essie Williams. Leonia served faithfully as a servant and to the ministry of Pastor Williams’ until God called Pastor Williams home on October 17, 1978. Unknown to Leonia at that time, God was getting ready to reveal another level of his plan for her life, that being the pastor of then Mt. Olive Apostolic Church.
One year following the death of Pastor Williams, Pastor Leonia Palmer was appointed as the interim pastor of Mt. Olive, a position she served in for about a year. Because of the blessings of God on her life, one year later in July 1980, Leonia Palmer was installed as the permanent pastor of Mt. Olive. Her first message was entitled, “God Is Going to Do A New Thing!” It was a message full of prophetic indication, because over the years of her Pastorate, God has over and over again done new things both with and through our leader!
Exactly seven years into her pastorate, the Lord spoke to Pastor Palmer and said, “It’s time!” Pastor Palmer knew that this meant it was time to pick up the vision of a new edifice that was started by the late Pastor Williams. Four years later, after numerous struggles, including the collapse of the half-completed building, Mt. Olive victoriously marched into our present edifice, New Mt. Olive Apostolic Church!
In addition to her role as pastor, Leonia Palmer has served and continues to serve on both State and National levels. In 1973, she was appointed Vice-President of the Women’s Gospel Union, an organization with membership in several states. Pastor Palmer also serves faithfully her parent organization, the Virginia State Council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.
She has held several positions in the VSC, including Vice-President of the Women’s Auxiliary for eleven years. In March 2001, Pastor Palmer was appointed as the first female District Superintendent in the state of Virginia, and one of the first nationally. This title was later changed to that of District Elder. Pastor Palmer serves on both the Executive Board and the Bishop’s Cabinet of the VSC, as well as the overseer of the Young Peoples Union. On August 25, 2001, Pastor Palmer was appointed the first woman Suffragan Bishop for the PAW, (Pentecostal Assemblies of the World). Suff. Bishop Palmer continually seeks to improve herself both spiritually and educationally, and the sky is the limit as to what God will do through her!
Her motto is, “Follow me as I follow Christ!” Many have found out that it is very easy to follow Pastor Palmer, because in spite of all that God has done for her, she remains a humble servant of God. Not only is she a Pastor, she is a mother figure to many, both members and non-members of the church! She is a gentle and soft spoken figure on the surface, but when the Spirit of God rises up in her, she is transformed into a lion proclaiming what thus saith the Lord!