This year’s inductees into the Order of the Faith of the United Pentecostal Church International include the founder of the largest network of UPCI churches in North America, a well-known conference speaker and longtime UPCI executive, a pastor nicknamed “Mr. Sunday School,” a noted evangelist and church planter, and a former Nazarene pastor turned international Pentecostal evangelist who saw thousands filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ronald Leslie Guidroz, Jerald “Jerry” Jones,” Greene Kitchen, Raúl Alba Orzoco, and Leo Clyte Upton were officially announced as the 2022 class of the Order of the Faith during an October 3 banquet in Orlando, Florida, one day before the start of General Conference. Family members and close friends of the inductees were in attendance, along with UPCI executives and members of the General Board. General Superintendent Dr. David K. Bernard announced the names of the honorees and offered a brief tribute to each.
Ronald Leslie Guidroz (1944-present), the son of Pentecostal pioneers V. A. and Dora Guidroz, is a longtime pastor and evangelist who, along with his wife, Jerry Ann, planted a church in Cypress, Texas, where they served for twenty-five years. The Guidrozes also have filled various leadership roles in the Texas and South Texas districts and directed the annual General Conference Memorial Service.
Jerald “Jerry” Jones (1952-present) is a highly-regarded conference and camp meeting speaker who served as the UPCI’s general secretary for two decades. Prior to this, he served as the organization’s general youth president. After retiring as general secretary, he became a full-time faculty member at Urshan College, where he serves as director of the Christian Ministry program.
Greene Kitchen (1919-1994) was the pastor of Staunton Street Apostolic Church in Huntington, West Virginia. The church experienced tremendous growth under his leadership, in part because of Kitchen’s commitment to building a strong Sunday School ministry, which earned him the nickname “Mr. Sunday School.” Kitchen also served as superintendent of the East Central District and played a key role in founding the Maryland DC District and the West Virginia District.
Raúl Alba Orozco (1954-2020) became pastor of a small congregation in Bell Gardens, California, in 1986. Under his leadership, the church eventually became a network of thirty-two congregations and 7,800 constituents known as La Senda Antigua (“The Old Path”). “Bishop Orozco,” as he was commonly known, was the first director of the UPCI’s Spanish Evangelism Ministries and a key leader in the development of the UPCI’s ministry effort to the Spanish-speaking population of North America.
Leo Clyte Upton (1907-1988) was a Nazarene evangelist and pastor who was miraculously converted to Oneness Pentecostalism while in his forties. He took his first overseas missions trip when he was in his fifties, and thereafter became an international evangelist. His ministry was marked by signs and miracles, and he was the first international evangelist to see more than one thousand people receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The Order of the Faith was established in 2002 to recognize leaders who have made significant contributions to the Oneness Pentecostal movement and the United Pentecostal Church International. A full biography of each inductee is available at oof.upci.org, and a video tribute is available on the UPCI’s YouTube channel.
Feature image: Alicia Orozco, wife of Raúl Alba Orozco, holds a plaque commemorating her late husband’s induction into the UPCI Order of the Faith. She is joined by her family and SoCal District Superintendent Art Hodges III (fourth from left) and his wife, Rosa (fifth from left).
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