Bishop Dr. Rufus Gene Williams Sanders

Bishop Dr. Rufus Gene Williams Sanders, 71, transitioned from earth to glory on Sunday, August 28, 2022, surrounded by his loving wife and siblings. He is the son of American Sr. and Sainted Mother Lena Mae Sanders. Bishop Sanders served as Pastor Emeritus of The Emmanuel Temple Church in Sandusky, Ohio. He was a 1969 graduate of Sandusky High School, and received his Bachelor of Science in Education from Bowling Green State University. He furthered his education at the Ashland University Seminary in Ashland, Ohio and received his Ph.D. in American Cultural Studies at Bowling Green State University. Bishop Sanders had extensive expertise as a scholar and completed post graduate work at Harvard University, as part of the Summer Leadership Institute at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Divinity School in Boston, MA. He was a University Scholar at Columbia University as a Collidge Fellow of the Association of Intellectuals in Religious Studies and studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Bishop Sanders was a noted preacher, teacher, scholar, and transformational leader and served in a number of faith-based, civic, and social justice-oriented organizations. His vision for leadership and organizational strategic planning and implementation of innovative engagement strategies contributed to a paradigm shift and led to a new wave of leaders in various Pentecostal Apostolic organizations.
Bishop Sanders was a prolific writer and wrote several books, including The Life of William Seymour, the Founder of the 20th Century Pentecostal Movement in America; The Age of Obama: The First Four Years; I See A Crimson Stream of Blood: Collected Letters, Conversations, and Presentations of Bishop Garfield Thomas Haywood; From the Belly of the Whale, and The Seymour Papers: Theological Beginnings of Modern Pentecostal Faith. He also wrote a popular monograph, The Black Church: Bridge Over Troubled Water, which examined spirituality and the Black church experience.
Bishop Sanders is the founding pastor, along with his wife, Dr. Jo-Ann Lipford-Sanders, of the Emmanuel Temple Church in 1978. He was a man ahead of his time as it relates to transformational and intellectual skills combined with spirit-filled, fire-baptized Apostolic preaching. He was a bold, innovative, creative, and focused leader. His leadership and gift of organization and administration was shared with several ecclesiastical organizations. He enjoyed a long-term fellowship with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World designing one of the most progressive and dynamic ministerial and leadership training program in the history of the organization.
Bishop Sanders was preceded in death by his parents, grandmother Anna Powell, sister Nettie Sanders Jackson, and uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, and cousins. He leaves to mourn his wife of 45 years, Dr. Jo-Ann Lipford-Sanders; six sisters, Doris Hendrix, Sheila D. Gillespie, Carolyn (Russell) Smith; Patricia (Dr. Kemmes) Keys; Amy Francis, and Mary Ann Sanders, all of Sandusky; brothers American (Eula) Sanders, Dr. Eugene T. W. (Paulette) Sanders, all of Sandusky and Michael (Emily) Sanders of Mansfield, Ohio.
The Laying in Apostolic State will occur on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at The Emmanuel Temple Church, 128 East Adams Street, Sandusky, Ohio. The Celebration of the Life, Legacy and Monumentalization of Bishop Rufus Gene Williams Sanders will include a public viewing from 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 8, until the processional promptly at 10:30 a.m. Homegoing services will begin at 11:00 a.m. at The Faith Church, 1320 East Strub Road, Sandusky, Ohio. Pastor Eugene T. W. Sanders, Ph.D., Emmanuel Temple Church. Toft Funeral Home & Crematory, Sandusky, will be managing the arrangements. Burial will occur in Oakland Cemetery. Condolences may be made to the family by visiting toftfuneralhome.com