Pastor Mattie Stokes Thomas

Pastor Mattie Stokes Thomas was born on May 31, 1925 in Davidson County, North Carolina to the late Rev. James W. Stokes and Jessie Mills Stokes. She departed this life to be with the Lord on June 3, 2015.

Pastor Thomas grew up in the Georgetown community in Davidson County where she attended elementary school in a one room school house. She later attended Thomas Elementary school in the Midway community and furthered her education at Dunbar High School in Lexington, North Carolina. Over several decades of her life she worked as a domestic and in the food service and manufacturing industries in Baltimore, Maryland, Montclair and Newark, New Jersey. Before retiring, she worked at Swaim Metal in High Point, NC.

A strong, Godly woman of incredible faith and vision, Mattie Thomas spent four decades of her life studying God’s word, teaching and preaching the gospel. She loved the Lord and believed in the power of prayer and used her anointed godly gift to heal the sick and deliver souls nation-wide. An avid supporter of education, she encouraged others to pursue every opportunity to learn, achieve and grow. Pastor Thomas was a lover of children and served as a mentor to people of all ages and walks of life. She loved to sing, cook and read the bible. A stylish dresser and lover of hats she had a fondness for animals, loved flowers and was generous with her time and resources.

She moved to Chicago, Illinois in the late 1960’s to study the ministry under Bishop Charles E. Poole and Evangelist Mattie B. Poole founders of the “Living Witness of the Apostolic Faith”. And she was ordained as a minister and became a member of Bethlehem Healing Temple in Chicago, Illinois.

In September 1976, she established High Point Deliverance Temple with three close friends and served as pastor for more than 38 years. Her ministry became known all over the world with prayer and counseling requests coming from all parts of the United States and abroad. Strong in her faith, believing in the possibilities of God’s word and putting him first, she always proclaimed: “I don’t care what it looks like, I believe God”.

Pastor Thomas was preceded in death by her parents; one daughter, Linda S. Hinton; one son, Jesse S. Shealey; three sisters: Ellen Traynham, Luegenia Pinnix, Nola Hoover and four brothers: James Stokes; Sylvester Stokes; Walter Stokes and William Stokes.

Left to cherish her legacy of love are; her husband, Willie C. Thomas, High Point, NC; one daughter, Congresswoman Alma Adams, Greensboro, NC; one son, Benjamin S. Peay, Hinesville, GA; eight grandchildren: Iris Simms, Newark, NJ; Billy E. Adams II, Greensboro, NC; Jeanelle (Ty) Lindsay, Greensboro, NC; Aminah P. (Keith) Saunders, Oviedo, FL; Ahmad R. (Lorna) Peay, Colorado Springs, CO; Malik R. (Shalom) Peay, Charlotte, NC; Khadijah Peay and Ali Peay, Winston-Salem, NC.; twenty-one great-grandchildren, a great niece, Maggie Standford, Tucker, GA; and many other relatives, friends and the High Point Deliverance Temple Church family, High Point, NC.