Our Pastor

Gloria Blake pastors Pentecostal Pilgrims and Strangers Church in Dunn, NC under the overseer of Bishop Ambrose Nwansi.

Chosen from her mother’s womb, in October, 1977 she was baptized in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost in a Pentecostal church in Fort Walton Beach Florida. She recalls at the age of eleven, while sitting in her math class is where began to have re-occurring visions of a woman preaching the word of God in a church she had never visited. Much travel and time, many years and miles had passed before being reconnected with the apostles doctrines. In 1990, by nothing less than a miraculous move of Jesus Christ she was led to Raleigh without a home to call her own or even a job. Not long after, the Lord blessed her with a job that was positioned directly across the street from none other than Pentecostal Pilgrims and Strangers Church on 4300 Newbern Avenue; where the late Bishop Vernon E. Jones was the pastor. Every night she went to work, she watched the church doors open up and the saints go in and out and then one night the Bishop himself came in to the “happy store” and began to talk about the goodness of Jesus. At that very moment, she knew she had to go and visit. The word was tight but right …. she never heard the word preached with such authority. When Bishop began to talk about the baptism in Jesus name, she knew that she had already been down in the name of Jesus. She remembers calling her mother to verify her baptism. Her mom confirmed that they had been baptized in Jesus name.

Not many months later she was re-baptized in September of 1990 in the name of Jesus Christ and the Lord refilled her with the Holy Ghost after all those years. Not long after that, she received her boot camp minister license and some years later after many trials, battles, and afflictions she was licensed for the ministry. In 2012 she was sitting in the late Bishop’s 39th celebration service and he looked at her and told her she would be a pastor … she said “no I will not”. The bishop said “yes you are”. The same year he ordained her and she began pastoring as well … Never say what you will not do when the Lord has a plan for your life. The ironic thing is that as a young child, she always wanted to be a teacher … that did not change.

Until this day, she continues to hold the teaching her father in the gospel birthed down on the inside. Looking back over her she gives the Lord praise for keeping his hand upon her until this very day.

She is a native of Pitt County – Greenville, NC, married to the love of her life, Cecil Blake of Rochester, NY and the mother of many – a daughter (evangelist Candace Fogg) that holds a Masters in the engineering field, two son’s named after prophets (Elijah and Minister Jeremiah), one son gifted to write and draw (Cecil Jr), another sone gifted to use two hands to move people around the world (Cedric) another son that’s a pharmacist (Thomas)……all baptized in the soul saving name of Jesus Christ and many loving grands…look at the Lord and an entire group of youth she calls her own that aspire to grow beyond measure. Amen.

Pastor Blake is sold out to the Lord and looks forward to the day she is raptured home. One of her favorite scriptures is from Philippians 1:6 – Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.