Bishop Joseph W. Walker III

Presiding International Bishop

Reared in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1970s, Bishop Walker grew up in a household parented by Rosa and Joseph Walker Jr. Bishop Walker states that his father was a strong disciplinarian, and businessman, who also served as a church deacon and Superintendent of Sunday School. His father instilled in the family a reverence for God and a love for a good education. “With both foundations, we kids believed that we could master the future,” says Bishop.

Bishop Walker is the pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, at the age of 24, Bishop Walker began his pastorate at Mt. Zion with 175 members. Presently, the ministry has grown to over 25,000 and continues to grow at a phenomenal rate of over 1,800 souls per year. Under Bishop Walker’s leadership, Mt. Zion’s ministry has expanded to eight weekly services in three physical locations.

Bishop Walker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University; a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Bishop Walker also served as the Bishop of Senior Pastors within the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International.

He is an author of numerous books, including the top selling title, Becoming A Couple of Destiny. Walker is married to the former Dr. Stephaine Hale. She is the Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology at Vanderbilt University and they have one beautiful daughter, Jovanni Willow Walker.

In 2013 it was announced that Bishop Walker would succeed Bishop Paul S. Morton as Presiding Bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International in 2015. The announcement was made in Louisville, KY among thousands of FGBCFI Conference Attendees and a world-wide television viewing audience. The appointment, which was determined by the votes of the FGBCFI Bishop’s Council, sends a powerful message of trust and respect in Bishop Walker as a proven and successful leader.