Bishop James E. McKnight

Bishop James E. McKnight has served as the spiritual leader of Church Of God By Faith Inc. for more than 20 years.

An ordained minister of the organization since 1957, Bishop McKnight was appointed assistant bishop in 1970. He was named presiding bishop in 1984, and underwent the formal consecration ceremony two years later.

Bishop McKnight is charged with fostering the spiritual and physical growth of more than 200 churches and missions across the country.

He has initiated a half-million dollar project that will involve the construction of an administrative headquarters that church officials say will be more conducive to the volume of business generated by the 90-year-old organization.

National church officials have bought an acre off of Old Middleburg Road, in Jacksonville, Fla., with plans to build an administrative headquarters that will feature a conference room, offices and a library to showcase and preserve historical documents and memorabilia. Bishop McKnight has said he envisions a plaque emblazoned with the names of all of the organization's churches and missions on the wall.

The Gainesville, Fla. native is a veteran of the Korean War. He is married to Mother Jessie Camps McKnight. They have four adult children.