Dr. David Bernard

David Bernard was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on November 20, 1956, to Elton and Loretta Bernard. The family soon moved to nearby Port Allen, Louisiana., where his parents helped start a church. His sister Karen was born in 1959. A few years later, the family moved to Hammond, Louisiana, where his parents began their preaching ministry and founded a church. After his parents were appointed as missionaries to Korea, he traveled with them across North America as they raised funds. Just before starting their travel, the family barely survived a head-on collision that caused severe injuries and required months of recuperation.

Korea
In 1965, at age eight, he moved with his family to Seoul, Korea, where his parents served as the pioneer missionaries of the United Pentecostal Church for twenty years. On the way to Korea, their ship caught on fire and almost exploded. In 1970, the family returned to the U.S. for one year. The children lived with the Mitchells, relatives in Baton Rouge, to attend school, while the parents traveled to raise funds. In 1971, the family returned to Korea. His sister Julie was born in 1972. In his last two years of high school, he taught English at the UPC Bible college and at Hanmi Foreign Language Institute. He graduated from Seoul Foreign School in 1974 as valedictorian (GPA of 4.0), student council president, and recipient of the Seoul Foreign School Award.

College Years
In 1974, at age 17, he moved to Houston, Texas, to attend Rice University as a National Merit Scholar. He attended Irvington Pentecostal Church for four years, serving as youth president, teen Sunday school teacher, college and career Sunday school teacher, and Bible study teacher. He worked as an accounting clerk at Permian Oil Corporation and as instructor in accounting at the University of Houston. He graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in mathematical sciences and managerial studies and with the Phi Beta Kappa and Financial Executives Institute awards.

After graduation, he moved to Austin, Texas, to enroll in the University of Texas School of Law. There, he attended the UPC of Austin for three years, serving as youth minister, youth Sunday school teacher, missions secretary, outreach director, home Bible study teacher, and trustee. He worked as salesman, bookkeeper, law clerk, and instructor in bookkeeping at Austin Community College.

During final exams in 1980, he preached his first revival in Marble Falls for Pastor Hazel Frusha. He worked in Beaumont that summer for a law firm but preached or taught in churches twenty-one times in eleven weeks, and at the end of the summer, he recognized his call to preach.

He received ministerial license with the UPCI in March 1981. In May he graduated from the University of Texas with a Doctor of Jurisprudence with honors as well as the awards of Texas Law Review, Order of the Coif, and UT Chancellors (top one percent of class). On June 6, he married the beautiful and vivacious Connie Sharpe of Austin. They moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in June to begin full-time ministry. He passed the Texas State Bar examination in August.

Jackson, Mississippi
Beginning in 1981, he served for five years as instructor (teaching eleven to sixteen credit hours per semester), dean of missions, dean of students (one year), and assistant vice president (four years) at Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi. He studied Greek at Wesley Biblical Seminary for one year. His wife enrolled in the JCM School of Music and graduated in 1984.
Also in 1981, at age 24, he published his first book, In Search of Holiness, written with his mother. It was the first full book on the subject by a Oneness author. In 1983, he published his first book as sole author, The Oneness of God, which is Word Aflame Press’s all-time bestseller. In 1984, he presented a paper on Oneness Pentecostalism at a Harvard University symposium. His first child, Jonathan, was born on November 14, 1985.

In 1986, at age 29, he taught his first camp meeting and also took his first overseas missions trips (other than Korea) to El Salvador, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia.

St. Louis, Missouri
Beginning in 1986, he served for six years as full-time associate editor in the Editorial Division of the UPCI, residing in St. Louis, Missouri. During this time, he also preached and taught extensively across the United States and overseas. In 1987, he began serving on the Parliamentary Committee of the UPCI. In 1989, he presented the first paper on Oneness Pentecostalism by a Oneness author to the Society for Pentecostal Studies. While the Bernards lived in St Louis, Sister Bernard became choir director at Florissant Valley Apostolic Church and for a time taught music theory at Gateway College of Evangelism. Their second son, Daniel, was born on September 24, 1988.

Austin, Texas
The Bernards moved to Austin, Texas, in 1992 to found New Life Church. Lindsey, their daughter, was born about two months later on June 16. Pastor Bernard continued to work part-time as associate editor for nine years, resigning in 2000. Soon after his decision to resign, he was appointed as the founding president of Urshan Graduate School of Theology in St. Louis. Over the years, he has served on various UPCI committees and boards, including the Ministers Appeal Council (six years), Texas District Sunday School Committee (one year), Texas District Board (seven years as sectional presbyter), Board of Publication (currently), Parliamentary Committee (currently), and General Board (three currently). Sister Bernard has served as sectional ladies leader and district ladies leader. During Pastor Bernard’s seven-year tenure as presbyter, the section grew from thirty to fifty-three churches and daughter works. In November 2002, he was elected as the superintendent of the newly formed South Texas District UPC, which has grown from 160 churches and daughter works to 220.

To date, he has authored thirty books and booklets and three pamphlets on the Bible, theology, church history, and Christian living, including Word Aflame Press’s best-selling book, The Oneness of God. Total books printed are about 750,000 in thirty-six languages. He is a contributing author to twenty-two other books and many periodicals. He has edited 194 books and fifty-seven pamphlets, including most of those currently in print at Word Aflame Press. Over the years, he has traveled in seventy-two countries, preaching and teaching in forty-five countries on six continents. He has traveled to all fifty states in the U.S., preaching and teaching in forty-six. He is listed in Who’s Who in Religion and Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors and Poets. In 2005 he earned a master of theology in New Testament at the University of South Africa. He is currently a doctor of theology candidate in New Testament at the University of South Africa.

Currently, Pastor Bernard is trying to find a way to eliminate the need for sleep so that he can pursue his hobbies of reading, chess, racquetball, swimming, and the symphony, and he is trying to live for God!

In October 2009, Dr. Bernard was elected the General Secretary of the United Pentecostal Church International.