PRESS RELEASE

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE VETERAN AND PASTOR, TERENCE O. HAYES, SR., EARNS DOCTORATE DEGREE FROM LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

 LAUNCHES ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP IN HONOR OF LATE MOTHER

 For Immediate Release – Community leader and Senior Pastor of Faith Deliverance Church of God In Christ (COGIC), Terence O. Hayes, Sr. is now counted among the two percent of Americans who have obtained doctoral degrees. The United States Air Force retiree graduated from Liberty University with his Educational Doctorate in Community Care and Counseling with a Cognate in Pastoral Counseling in November 2020. 

 Recognized in 2014 as one of COGIC’s 100 Influential Pastors, Dr. Hayes accomplished this enormous feat with a goal to help others overcome mental health issues. The Pentecostal preacher brings a fresh and direct approach to the counseling field, especially in a religious setting that traditionally did not embrace such treatment.

 “The field of psychology, Christian Counseling, became healing to my soul after suffering the tragic loss of my mother by the way of suicide,” he explained, “I plan to take the educational knowledge I have gained and use it to further the work and ministry.”

 His first act of support includes a community scholarship named in honor of his late mother. The Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship exists to support the millions of people who struggle with mental health themselves or know loved ones who do. The scholarship is open to all students and requires an essay submission to apply. 

 Coupled with graduation and the scholarship launch, Dr. Hayes will lead the church in their “Mortgage Burning” Service on December 13, 2020, at 11:00 am. The event will take place at 450 Turner Road in Dayton, OH, and will include the official burning of the deed – a symbolic representation of the church collectively eliminating their $500,000 property mortgage and becoming debt-free during the global pandemic.

 The diligence, leadership, and faith exuded by Dr. Hayes are one of admiration, yet he continues to simply lead with a servant’s heart:

 “The words of Paul express my heart sentiments well; "More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8, CSB).

To learn more about the Ethel Hayes Destigmatization of Mental Health Scholarship, visit here.

To learn more about Faith Deliverance Church of God In Christ, visit here.