Legendary Profiles (A-E) (F-J)(K-O)(P-T)(U-Z)

 Bishop Melvin Boyd

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

  1940 ~ 2002

Bishop Melvin Boyd was born on July 2, 1940, in Crofton, Kentucky, to the late Claude and Thelma (Robinson) Boyd. He was the seventh son among fifteen children born to this union. As a youngster growing up in Crofton, Melvin attended Crofton Elementary and high schools. He was recognized even as a child for his unique character, as well as his speaking and writing abilities.

Melvin held innumerable academic and scholastic honors, including representing his school in national debate team finals. As a child, he often penned sermons between school and his daily chores at home. Melvin would often reminisce that he and his brothers would have to go hunting and do chores in the morning before going to school! Never doubting that he would someday be a preacher, Melvin nonetheless exhibited the normal every day characteristics of little boys growing up in the country. (During his pastorate, he would refer to himself as "a poor country preacher". However, it was difficult for many to even imagine him being a preacher or speaker because he was a very quiet child!  

Having lost both his parents as a teenager Melvin would often comment that if he could, he would wake them up just to say "thank you!" He felt that whereas he may have lost his parents, he didn't lose God! After his parents demise, he relocated to Davenport, Iowa, to live with hus uncle, the late Bishop Alfred L. Boyd, who pastored the Pentecostal Church of God in Davenport. It was at this stage of Melvin's life that his ministry began to blossom, and his debut in the arena of Apostolic Pentecostal Oneness preachers took flight.

At an early age Melvin had been baptized in Jesus' Name and received the Holy Ghost. In 1958, at the age of 18, he was appointed as the Assistant Pastor of the Pentecostal Church of God, where he faithfully served alongside his Pastor for the next ten years. On July 2, 1960, he was united in Holy Matrimony to the former Carol Ann Nolly of Minneapolis, Minnesota. To this union were born four sons and three daughters. In November 1968, at the age of 28, Elder Boyd accepted the call to become the spiritual leader of Christ Temple Pentecostal Church in Old Hickery, Tennessee.

Throughout the years Elder Boyd continued to expand his academic and ecclesiastical knowledge by receiving his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate of Divinity degrees. He served as a District Elder in the First Apostolic Council of Kentucky and Tennessee for 23 years. In 1999 he was consecrated as as Suffragan Bishop, and elevated and consecrated to the full Bishopric during the 2001 Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. On October 19, 2001, in Nashville, Tennessee, Bishop Boyd was officially installed as the Diocesan of the Eleventh Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World.

Bishop Melvin Boyd eased into peaceful sleep on Sunday, July 28, 2002, in Nashville, Tennessee. His life and spiritual leadership stand as a memorial to his legacy. Although not tall in physcial stature, Bishop Boyd was a giant among his peers.  Audio Recordings of Bishop Melvin Boyd are available in our Audio Library.