When Bishop Tompkins was a child, his friends and family recognized there was something different about the little boy who would preach to anyone who would listen. Before fully understanding God’s divine purpose for his life, he prepared himself by being a faithful worker in his home church, Bethany Baptist Church, serving the pastor and the ministry diligently.
God’s favor over his life was not confined to ministry but permeated in all of his endeavors. In 1987, he opened a highly successful restaurant in downtown Mooresville, NC and also elected the first African American Commissioner in the City of Mooresville. His life would forever change in the summer of 1997, when God’s Spirit spoke to him saying ‘preach my Word to the lost, lonely, and left-out’. This was the year Bishop Tompkins embraced his calling and became an ordained preacher of the Gospel. Because he was faithful, God enlarged his territory and sent him workers to help him establish what God had commanded and thus, in October 2000, Bishop Tompkins founded the Living Word of Deliverance Temple Church in Charlotte, NC. The initial church services were held in the living room of his home; however, the Living Word ministry expanded exponentially forcing it to move into a commercial building to accommodate the growing congregation.
In June 2002, Bishop Tompkins was appointed as Bishop under the leadership of Apostle J. Q. Lockette of Miracle Revival Assemblies of Atlanta, GA. and in 2003, he founded the Living Word of Deliverance Temple National Body Incorporated, which includes eight partnership ministries. In 2006, during a morning worship service, Bishop Tompkins informed the congregation God had revealed His house is a “worship center”. On that day, the church’s name was changed to its current name, Living Word of Deliverance Temple Worship Center, to reflect God’s revelation.
In 2012, being led by the Holy Spirit, Bishop Tompkins relocated Living Word of Deliverance Temple Worship Center from Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC. The move to Columbia has been fruitful, in that the ministry has experience tremendous growth in both in-person membership and online viewership. To accommodate the ministry’s growth, in October 2022, Bishop Tompkins spear-headed the church’s relocation to its new 10,000 sq ft, state-of-the-art church campus and conference center located at 1323 Winyah Way in Columbia, SC.
In addition to being the Pastor of Living Word, Bishop Tompkins is also the owner and CEO of both Bostick-Tompkins Funeral Home, Inc and W.AT. Properties Inc. of Columbia. He has been recognized for his work in ministry and the community, having been bestowed numerous awards for service including the Juneteenth Freedom Award and the prestigious Martin Luther King Community Leadership Award and also featured on the John Lakin & Friends Show and other television programs.
Bishop Tompkins has established himself as a trailblazer, visionary, and power instrument being used by God. Whether it be as a pastor, father, brother, employer, mentor, entrepreneur, or friend, Bishop Tompkins always allows the light of Christ to shine from within him.
