About George D. McKinney

Education
Bishop George Dallas McKinney was born August 9, 1932 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Arkansas State College where he received a BA degree. Bishop McKinney received his MA degree from Oberlin College, School of Theology in Ohio, a Ph.D. from California Graduate School of Theology in Glendale, California and received an honorary D.D. from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

Career
Bishop McKinney, with his wife Jean, founded and serves as pastor of St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ. They are also founders of

• St. Stephen’s Nursery School,
• Southeast Counseling and Consulting Services,
• American Urban University,
• St. Stephen’s Retirement Center,
• The Jean C. McKinney Manor

Since 1985, Bishop McKinney has served as the Jurisdictional Prelate of the Southern California Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. In November 2001 he was elevated to the General Board (the presidium) of the Church of God in Christ, Inc. and reelected in 2004.

A former probation officer and a renowned licensed Marriage, Family and Child Counselor, Bishop McKinney is internationally known for his dynamic preaching and teaching ministry, which places him in constant demand as a conference and convention speaker. He serves as Co-chair of the Pentecostal & Charismatic churches of North America – PCCNA.

Published Books
Bishop McKinney is the author of numerous books. He served as the senior editor for the African American Devotional Bible, published by Zondervan in April 1977. His literary contributions include The New Slave Masters Cook Communications Ministries, 2005

• Let the Church Be the Church
• Christian Marriage
• The Theology of Jehovah's Witnesses
• For Those Who Wonder
• Rejoice
• The Gospel of Mark
• Cross the Line: Reclaiming the Inner-City for God with William Kritlow, 1998
• Served as senior editor of African-American Devotional Bible, Zondervan, 1997
• Also contributed chapters to Pilgrims on the Sawdust Trail, June 2004;
• It’s Not An Easy Road, 1999; and Best Preaching on Earth, 1996

Honors and Awards
He has received numerous honors in the fields of religion and community service. In 1995, the San Diego Rotary Club named Bishop McKinney “Mr. San Diego.” On March 7, 2001, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), presented Bishop McKinney with a Racial Reconciliation Man of the Year Award in recognition of all the work he has done for many years in the area of racial unity. On July 23, 2005 he was presented the Salt ‘n’ Light award from Center For Reclaiming America for Christ. Most recently he was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.  

Bishop McKinney was happily married for 46 years to Jean Brown McKinney, recently deceased. There are five married sons and 15 grandchildren.