Acts Full Gospel Church
Senior Pastor and Founder
Bishop Bob Jackson was born in Berkeley, California, and graduated from Castlemont High School in Oakland. After service in the U.S. Air Force he attended college, earning an AA degree from Merritt College in 1970; a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Hayward, in 1973; and a Master’s degree in Theology from the International Seminary in Plymouth, Florida, in 1988. He holds two Honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees, one from the Sacramento Theological Seminary and Bible Institute, in Sacramento, California, and the second from the Saint Thomas Christian College in Jacksonville, Florida.
Bishop Jackson received the Lord Jesus Christ in 1977 and was called to pastor in 1984. He began Acts Full Gospel Church in Oakland with thirteen members. Today the church has over 7,500 members. Bishop Jackson credits the growth of the church to its Seven Steps to the Kingdom evangelism method. This approach has been taught to churches all across the United States, in the Caribbean and in South America. Under Bishop Jackson’s leadership, the church has a school (Acts Christian Academy) for pre-school to eighth grade, a 166-acre camp, a teen church, and a community development program that sponsors such projects as Souls Restaurant and a thrift shop in Oakland that provide employment and job training to members of the community.
In 2001, Bishop Jackson founded the Men of Valor Academy for at-risk and disadvantaged males—those who, due to a lack of education, vocational training, employment and positive role models, resort to a life of crime and violence. The Academy is designed to give these men an opportunity to redirect their lives in a positive manner by addressing the root cause of violence.
Bishop Jackson was consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop in the Church of God in Christ in April 2004 and is the National Director of its Soul Winning Department.
He is the president of the Pastors of Oakland, a group of more than 40 pastors who work together on community issues and concerns. He is also the founder of OAACC, which was organized to develop and encourage African-American businesses in Oakland.
* Founding member of OAACC
