Our Pastor

Reverend James C. Hendricks, Sr.

Reverend James Cornelius Hendricks Sr. was born March 22, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois, raised in Gary, Indiana, and was educated in the Gary, Indiana Public School System. He was a graduate of West Side High School in Gary, Indiana. He served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America, stationed in Wildflecken, Germany, and Fort Hood, Texas, and was honorably discharged in 1978.

He joined the Gary Fire Department in December 1979 and became a Certified Emergency Medical Technician in October 1984. Retired from the Gary Fire Department at the rank of Captain.

He received his Certification of License to Preach by the 20th Century Baptist Church, Gary, Indiana in February 1973. He received his Certificate of Ordination in Wildflecken, Germany on October 31, 1976. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from Mary Hardin Baylor College in Belton, Texas

He joined the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in 1995, serving the 3rd Episcopal District under the leadership of Presiding Elder Carrell K. Cargle, Gary, District, and Bishop Dotcy I. Isom Sr., Presiding Prelate of the 3rd Episcopal District.

He was ordained deacon in 1995 and elder in 1996 by Bishop Dotcy I. Isom, Sr., and admitted into full connection in 1997. The itinerant ministry in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church includes Glen Park CME Church, Gary, Indiana; Saint Peter CME Church, Flint, Michigan; Saint Luke CME Church, Saginaw, Michigan – Michigan-Indiana Region and Saint Matthew CME Church, Wichita, Kansas – Kansas-Missouri Region. In 2010, he was appointed the Presiding Elder of the Kansas District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church by Bishop Paul A.G. Stewart, Sr. Presiding Prelate of the 3rd Episcopal District, where he served seven years. In 2018 he was appointed to Pastor Trinity CME Church in Decatur, Illinois, under the leadership of Bishop Sylvester Williams, Presiding Prelate of the 3rd Episcopal District.

He has served on various boards in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and in community involvement. He is a Certified Prevention Professional in the State of Indiana, Certified in the Michigan Prison Re-entry Program, and Chaplain of the Greater Wichita Ministerial League of Wichita, Kansas. In addition, he was a mentor for the Wichita Children’s Home – Human Trafficking Department. He was a delegate to the CME Church General Conferences in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018.

He is married to Carolyn Ann Thomas-Hendricks. They are the parents of 11 children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandson.