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Rev. Ronnie Pigg

Biography

Rev. Ronnie Pigg was born third of five children and raised in a  small rural southeastern Oklahoma town. There, at the age of 12, he surrendered his life to Christ and, at age 14, accepted the call to the ministry. He started out preaching at vesper services, youth camps, youth rallies, and youth revivals in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) and the Pentecostal Church of God.

Pastor Ronnie pastored his first church in southeastern Oklahoma before moving to Oklahoma City where he served as youth pastor. At the age of 21 he recognized his inner struggle and decided to leave the church and come out as an openly gay man. Then at age 23 he decided to go back to the church and began serving as worship leader, youth pastor and assistant pastor within the Pentecostal Holiness denomination. After being ordained about a year later, someone called and "outed" him to this denomination and he was abruptly disfellowshipped and stripped of his credentials. 

Not easily shaken in mind or deed, Pastor Ronnie began to pray for direction and guidance, and heard about a group of Pentecostal gays and lesbians that had started under the leadership of the late Rev. Alvis Strickland, the Community Gospel Church. Pastor Ronnie was asked by this group to be a guest speaker for one service at a revival meeting they were conducting. While there he felt direction from the Lord to relocate to Houston.  After a brief period there, the pastor resigned and Pastor Ronnie was asked to fill the pulpit and served there from 1985-1992. During his tenure there, Pastor Ronnie started what was known as Community Gospel Fellowship. 

After serving the Houston church, he moved to Seattle, Washington, to become co-pastor of the Fountain of Life Christian Fellowship. He left Seattle in 1994 to relocate to Phoenix and became a member of Casa de Cristo Church. In 1996, Pastor Ronnie was asked by this congregation to serve as senior pastor, a position that he held until 2009.  He then moved to west Texas and worked in nursing until 2019.  At that time he returned home to Oklahoma and has been ministering as an evangelist.   

Pastor Ronnie has served in an advisory position to several ministers and ministries, as well as assisting other pastors and congregations. He has traveled on the mission field to Haiti, Korea, Tanzania, and Zambia. He is listed in the Handbook of Pentecostal Denominations, as well as Who's Who of American Professionals, and the Dictionary of Pentecostal Movements.

(This biographical statement provided by Ronnie Pigg.)

Biography Date: February 2007; rev November 2022

Tags

Pentecostal | Clergy Activist

Citation

“Rev. Ronnie Pigg | Profile”, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed December 03, 2024, https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/ronnie-pigg.

Remembrances

“I first met him when he was pastor of Community Gospel in Houston. One year I traveled to Houston for the church’s anniversary. During a period when no service was going on, I sat in on a counseling session, where a young person had come to Bro. Pigg for guidance. During the session, things went wrong, and this person pulled a knife on us. I’m sure Bro. Pigg was as scared as I was, but he remained perfectly calm and was able to talk the person down. No one was hurt. In the pulpit or out, Bro. Pigg is an asset to our community”
 – as remembered by William Carey on January 31, 2013

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