Our History

OUR HISTORY

The late Bishop Oliver Rafael Corbin, Founder of Zion Pentecostal Faith Center Inc., was born in St. Peter, Barbados, West Indies. He was saved and filled with the Holy Ghost while in his teens in Barbados and later preached while living in Aruba under the leadership of Pastor Jackson. Bro Corbin then came to New York, where he served as Assistant Pastor before being promoted to Pastor of Harlem’s Pentecostal House of Prayer.

The Year 1960

Pastor Corbin launched in 1960 and founded Zion Pentecostal Faith Center Inc. That eventually developed into an international ministry that extended to Barbados, Canada, Panama, and England. Soon after, Pastor Corbin attained the office of Bishop.

Bishop Corbin with a heart of compassion, soon opened a food pantry and soup kitchen in Zion’s church in the South Bronx, New York. In addition to that, he had the New York branch of Youth Challenge, and a Christian drug rehabilitation program, which was housed in Zion. Bishop later took sick, and in July of 1999, he went home to his heavenly Zion, but not before blessing Dr. George Irish and asking him to take over the ministry.

Dr. James Alfred George Irish was born on the Island of Montserrat in the West Indies. He lived and worked throughout many of the islands and countries before residing in the United States of America. He touched souls throughout the world.

He taught at many universities, including the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) in the Dominican Republic and in the United States at the City University of New York (CUNY), where he served as Professor of Caribbean and Latin American Studies.

Dr. J. A. George Irish was the composer of the musical score of the Montserrat National Song “Motherland” and Recipient of the Order of Excellence. He was the author of 32 books, founder and Musical Director of the Montserrat Emerald Community Singers, founder of the Leeward Islands Debating Competition, and founder of the Montserrat Allied Workers Union.

Dr. Irish served as Chair of the Spanish Department at the UWI (Mona), Executive Director of the Caribbean Research Center, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, President of the Caribbean Diaspora Press Inc., and the Caribbean American Foundation. In the year 2001, Dr. Irish also started Spiritual Awakening Ministries, which is housed in Zion Pentecostal Faith Center’s building. This brought a marriage between Zion and Spiritual Awakening Ministries.

Dr. Irish went home to be with his Heavenly Father in February 2019. About 18 months before his passing, he ordained the current Pastor, Dr. Gladwyn A Sandiford, as Minister, stating that he wanted to get some rest. It so happened that he was really putting the house in order before leaving this earth.

In May 2019, Dr. Gladwyn Sandiford was installed to be the Pastor of the church by the Right Reverend Bishop Eric D. Garnes. Dr. Sandiford has been leading the congregation since then even throughout the COVID period, we continued to worship remotely until the ban was lifted and churches were reopened.

Dr. Gladwyn Sandiford, coming from the Island of Barbados just as the late Bishop Corbin, got saved and Baptized at a very early age. She attended People’s Cathedral in Barbados and taught there as a Sunday School Teacher. In taking up residence in New York, she became a member of People’s Evangelistic Outreach, serving under the late Pastor Cornelius. After his passing, Dr. Sandiford then became a member of the Tabernacle of Praise in 1997 under the leadership of Bishop Eric Garnes. At Tabernacle, she was Diocesan Secretary for the 5th, then 2nd Episcopal Diocese, where the chief Prelate was Bishop J. Delano Ellis II, before Handing that position over to Bishop Garnes. This Diocese was a combination of over 50 churches.

Bishop Garnes released Dr. Sandiford to work with Dr. Irish and Dr. Irish, who waited patiently and thankfully accepted. Dr. Sandiford comes with an Associate in Science from C.U.N.Y, a Bachelor in Science in Health Information Management from S.U.N.Y, a Master’s of Science in Information Resource Management from Central Michigan University, a Ph.D. in Information Systems Management from Walden’s University, and a Dr. of Ministries, from Logos University.

In 2022, Dr. Kofi Mac-Larnyoh, then Pastor of Mount Calvary Church of God in Christ in the Bronx, after COVID had actually changed the way we operated, joined Pastor Sandiford, and the two churches now worship together as one, having been blessed with 2 Pastors.