Our Church History

In the early 1900’s two preachers of the Pentecostal Faith from Memphis, TN visited Clarksdale, Mississippi. Their names were Elder Brewer and Elder Lafayette Clark. They taught a prayer band under the supervision of Mother Janie Nichols and Evangelist Rosalie Brown in her garage at 501 Garfield Avenue. After accepting the truth, the members of the prayer band were taken to Memphis and baptized in Jesus Name by Elder Clark.
In 1943, the late Evangelist Rosalie Brown became the first pastor of Apostolic Faith Church. In 1953, the late Elder Frank Bluntson became co-pastor until 1956. At which time, a young mail carrier who was also a minister, Thomas Jesse Melton Sr., was elected pastor by the Southern
Tri-State Council.

Suffragan Bishop Dr. Thomas Jesse Melton, Sr. was born in Lyon, Mississippi on April 23, 1930. He was united in Holy Matrimony to Sister Ossie Lee Bluntson on April 23, 1947. To this union, eight children were born. After thirty-six years of marriage, his beloved wife, Evangelist Ossie Lee Bluntson Melton was promoted by the Lord from labor to rest. He later married Sister Margaret Tanner in 1985.
Suffragan Bishop Dr. Thomas Jesse Melton, Sr. served faithfully for forty-eight years in leadership role of pastoring.
Many souls were saved, restored, delivered, healed, and set free through his anointed teaching and preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1996, his Diocesan Bishop Clifton Jones of Philadelphia, Mississippi ordained him as a Suffragan Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the Word, Inc., He celebrated sixty years of salvation and fifty years of ministry. In 2004, the leadership was passed on to his son, Elder Samuel Melton, Sr., and the name was changed to again to First Apostolic Church, where the Legacy continues.