Johnathan E. Alvarado, D.Min., is a family man, the Senior Pastor of Grace Church International, the
Bishop and Presiding Prelate of the Grace Fellowship of Churches International, a Pentecostal theologian,
and an educator. He began in ministry as a 12-year-old preacher at Union Grove Baptist Church in
Columbus, Ohio under the late Dr. Phale D. Hale.
Bishop Alvarado is a 1990 Morehouse College graduate where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Music. While matriculating through Morehouse, he performed with the Morehouse College Glee Club,
serving as Accompanist and Student Director under the baton of the late Dr. Wendell P. Whalum.
Bishop Alvarado served as Minister of Music at many churches throughout Atlanta in the late 1980s and
early 1990’s. His love for education and music led him into a teaching career He began as an
elementary school music teacher in the DeKalb County School System from 1990-95, then, as a seminary
professor. He also served as Music Director for gospel music artist Daryl Coley from 1985-1994.
In 1991, Bishop Alvarado began holding Friday night house-to-house Bible studies. By June of 1992, with three adults and nine
teenagers, he was ordained pastor/teacher and commissioned to establish Total Grace Christian Center (now Grace Church International)
by his father in the faith, Apostle LaFayette Scales. Under Bishop Alvarado’s leadership, Grace Church International has grown to nearly
2,000 members and over 35 active ministries in DeKalb- and Clayton County, Georgia. The church is celebrated for its intimate praise
and worship, passionate preaching, commitment to wholesome family, educational emphasis, and ministry to the community.
