Bishop Jerry L. Ivery, B.A., M.S., PhD was born July 23, 1954, the fourth child of ten.  As an infant he suffered a stroke that left him with a lazy eye and a speech impediment.  At the age of two he fell down a flight of stairs and burst his eardrums.  The doctor placed him in his mother’s arms to die.  However, his parent’s who were members of Temple Church of God in Christ, under the leadership of the late Bishop Charles H. Mason, had faith in God.  His father took him upstairs and gave him to God, praying the prayer of faith, believing God to heal their son.  Bishop Ivery was healed and was brought up in the admonition of the Word of God.  God also delivered him from the speech impediment.  As a child, he loved the Word and in 1974-75 he entered the International Bible Quiz, holding the title as winner for two years straight.  Bishop Ivery received his call to preach the gospel at the age of 16, but was not sent until the age of 30.  In 1991, he began to pastor. 

 

He is currently the Senior Pastor of World Redeemer’s Outreach COGIC

www.wroc.us in Memphis, TN.  Prior to this he pastored Trinity Church of God in Christ and Word of Life Church of God in Christ.  While pastoring, he also served for ten years as Jurisdictional Secretary for Tennessee 5th Jurisdiction under Bishop Samuel Lowe, three years for Tennessee Eastern 1st Jurisdiction under Bishop Felton Smith and for the last seven years Jurisdictional Secretary for the Philippines Jurisdiction under the leadership of Bishop Avel Forto.  Bishop Ivery was appointed by Bishop Carlis Moody, as the Director of Mission for Kenya, East Africa in 2007.  Since his appointment, Director Ivery has traveled to Kenya over 30 times recruiting and training over 200 pastors under the Church of God in Christ.  In addition, he has helped to establish an orphanage and school that serves over 300 homeless children, called the Joy Valley Orphanage. This orphanage has been cited by the local government and featured on one of the local television news channel as one of the premier orphanages in Nairobi.   Bishop Ivery also serves in Memphis as Executive Director of Urban Family Ministries, CDC, a faith-based state licensed Drug and Alcohol Program, which serves the homeless, ex-offenders, HIV-AIDS etc.  This program has been cited by State of Tennessee as a model faith-based organization.

 

Bishop Ivery’s past work experience consists of President of the National Alliance of Faith-Based Organizations, Executive Director of Isaiah Family Ministries, Family Therapist for Frayser Family Counseling Center, Case Manager for Case Management, Inc., Group Therapist for the Crisis Stabilization Unit and Pretrial Counselor.  His community involvement afforded him opportunities to serve as a board member of the Ryan White Counsel on HIV/AIDS, Christ Community Medical Center, Safe Sexual Assault Commission, State of Tennessee Board of Alcohol, And Drug Abuse Services Faith-Based Board for Access to Recovery and Executive Secretary for African American Pastors Consortium on HIV/AIDS. Bishop Ivery is the father of six children and is married to the lovely First Lady Valerie Denise Rodgers Ivery.