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After more than fifty years of ministry, with forty-two of those being in Fayette and Coweta Counties, Bishop David Epps has announced that he will retire as the Rector of The Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, and as the Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-South (Georgia and Tennessee) on the church’s 29th Anniversary, September 14, 2025. Epps, who was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, has served as a youth minister, associate minister, and pastor in Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, Colorado, and Georgia as well as wrote for The Citizen as an opinion columnist for 28 years.
Epps played football and was on the karate team at Kingsport’s Dobyns-Bennett High School. He began going to church after an encounter with a local pastor, one who Epps continued to look up to throughout his time in the ministry.
“He always made a point to make time for people, no matter who they were, and he had an extensive library,” said Epps. “From that I learned a pastor always has an open door and is well-read, and I tried to take after this.”
After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. After receiving an Honorable Discharge, he enrolled in East Tennessee State University, graduating with a major in social work. Eventually, he would receive a Diploma in Ministerial Studies from Berean College, a Master of Arts in Biblical Literature from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, a Diploma in Advanced Pastoral Leadership from Trinity Anglican Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Berean Graduate School of Divinity.
In 1983 he became the pastor of what was then Fayette Fellowship in Peachtree City, GA which relocated to Coweta County and was renamed Trinity Fellowship Church.
“On paper, I was the President and the CEO, but I was always just the pastor,” said Epps. “I was there for the people, I wanted to be an authentic pastor.”
At Trinity, he proposed to the Official Board that the church establish a Christian school. The school would begin with K-3rd grades, with an initial enrollment of 17 students. Over time, and with subsequent excellent leadership in both the school and church, Trinity Christian School would grow to its present enrollment of 1,900 students.
In 1989, Epps became a police chaplain for the Peachtree City Police Department and served there for 25 years. In 1992, he graduated as an Honor Student from the Fulton County Police Academy and became a certified law enforcement officer. He was a sworn reserve (non-paid) deputy for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and a reserve officer for the Senoia Police Department. He also served these two departments as a chaplain and was a chaplain for the Fulton County Public Safety Training Center (police academy), the Atlanta Division of the FBI, and the Palmetto Police Department.
In 1996, after intense studies of over two years, Epps changed gears and was ordained a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church and, with eleven people and members of his family, founded Christ the King Church. For six years, the church met in the chapel of Carmichael Hemperley Funeral Home in Peachtree City while property was being obtained and a sanctuary was constructed on Highway 34 in Sharpsburg. Later, a fellowship hall and classrooms were added.
In 1997, he was named as Canon to the Ordinary by Bishop John Holloway. In June 2007, Holloway suffered a debilitating stroke and in November of that year, Epps was elected a bishop by the North American House of Bishops and has served both church and diocese since that time. In 2008, Christ the King was authorized as the Cathedral Church of the Diocese. In 2020, he received Board Certification as a Certified Clinical Counselor and as a Certified Pastoral Counselor from the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-2023, he was employed by Piedmont Fayette Hospital as an On-Call Chaplain, ministering primarily in the emergency department and in intensive care.
“I learned a lot by volunteering at the hospital. I felt honored to work alongside the medical staff who assumed those risks,” said Epps. “I saw a lot of courage and a lot of commitment.”
Over the course of his ministry, Epps has influenced or personally placed into licensed/ordained/pastoral ministry, some fifty clergy persons. For years, in churches he served, Epps conducted karate classes for hundreds of students in Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Colorado. Great Plains Baptist Divinity School awarded him an honorary doctorate for his work combining youth ministry and martial arts. He continues to be an active member of the Sgt Clyde Thomason Medal of Honor Detachment of the Marine Corps League, where he served a term as Commandant, and of the Military Order of the Devil Dogs. He is also a member of the American Legion.
For twenty-eight years, Epps was a weekly opinion columnist for The Citizen. Epps wrote various kinds of opinion articles, from humorous opinion articles to even writing about the pastor who took him to a youth group for the first time. All in all, Epps believes his work for The Citizen made him a better communicator.
In all of his areas of purpose, Epps continued to learn valuable lessons.
“I think the most surprising thing I’ve learned is how good-hearted and supportive people can be, it’s humbling,” he said.
Bishop Epps has been married for almost 54 years to Cynthia Scott Douglas Epps, Ph.D. who is a retired full professor of nursing and associate dean of the Tanner School of Nursing at the University of West Georgia. They have three married sons, three grandsons, nine granddaughters, and seven great-grandchildren. They will continue to reside in Senoia, Georgia. The service at Christ the King on September 14 will begin at 10:00 a.m.
From a news release from the Diocese of the Mid-South CEC-NA with added quotes from an interview with The Citizen’s Sonja Sutcavage.
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