I came sliding out of the womb in early November 1977 and landed squarely on the pew of a United Pentecostal church. They hauled me off to church camp as soon as I reached the legal age, and enrolled me at Gateway College of Evangelism when I hit 17. The United Pentecostal Church International is all I’ve ever known.

My father is a UPCI pastor, so I grew up hearing constant talk of preachers and preaching. Looking back, there have been a lot of UPCI leaders, preachers, pastors, missionaries and evangelists that I’ve admired during the past three decades. However, certain personalities stand out because of their influence and impact.

After informally polling a few other longtime Apostolics (my father, pastor, wife and mother-in-law), I determined that the five notables listed here seem to have helped shape my denomination more than any others during my lifetime.

1. David Bernard – Bernard wins the designation of Most Influential Leader based on his writing prowess. You’d be hard pressed to find an Apostolic home that didn’t contain at least one of his many books on Pentecostal doctrine, including The Oneness of God, the best-selling title from Word Aflame Press. Bernard’s name also appears 17 times on the list of books ministers are required to read before receiving a ministerial license or ordination with the UPCI.

Bernard’s resume could practically fill its own book. He is the pastor of New Life Church, a thriving congregation in Austin, Texas, superintendent of the UPCI’s South Texas District and president of the Urshan Graduate School of Theology.

2. Nathaniel A. Urshan – Urshan is one of the most widely recognized surnames in the UPCI, and the late Nathaniel Urshan was the mostly widely recognized member of the family. (You know your clan is influential when they name a graduate school in your honor – one led by David Bernard, no less.)

Urshan was an evangelist, camp meeting and conference speaker and the pastor of Calvary Tabernacle in Indianapolis, one of the UPCI’s flagship churches. At the UPCI’s General Conference in 1977 (I attended via my mother’s womb), Urshan’s fellow ministers elected him to be General Superintendent, a post he held until his retirement in 2002.

Nathaniel Urshan epitomized the ideal Apostolic preacher. He carried himself with dignity and grace and was spoken about with nearly god-like reverence by those who met him. His leadership influenced hundreds – if not thousands – of his fellow ministers, and his impact continues to be felt even after his passing in 2005.

3. Anthony Mangun – Mangun is the pastor of The Pentecostals of Alexandria, the most prominent UPCI congregation in the United States. But Mangun’s real impact has come through Because of the Times (BOTT), an annual minister’s conference in Alexandria, La., that he helped establish back in the early 1980s.

Held in January, BOTT features three nights and two days of non-stop preaching and teaching. It has become the premier Apostolic preaching conference and has impacted thousands of Apostolic ministries. Attend one time and you’ll understand what I’m saying.

Incidentally, BOTT also appears to have inspired the title of the mega-popular rock band Kings of Leon’s third album.

4. Paul Mooney – Mooney is the pastor of Calvary Tabernacle in Indianapolis (formerly led by Nathaniel Urshan) and one of two UPCI Assistant General Superintendents, as well as the former superintendent of the Michigan and Indiana districts. Despite the impressive bio, though, his greatest impact probably has come through Indiana Bible College.

In 1988, Mooney and Calvary Tabernacle agreed to take over the fledgling Bible school and move it from Seymour, Ind. to Indianapolis. Since that time, IBC has become a minister-mill, turning out hundreds of church leaders over the past 20 years, including quite a few who have landed in Illinois. Mooney continues to serve as president of the college, a position that allows him to have a direct impact on future generations of Apostolic leaders.

5. Kenneth Haney – Haney, the current UPCI General Superintendent, previously served as pastor of one of the denomination’s largest churches, Christian Life Center in Stockton, Calif. But like Mooney, his season of greatest impact may have been the years he spent as leader of a Bible college.

In 1972, Haney became president of Western Apostolic Bible College after the school’s founder, Haney’s father Clyde, was killed in an auto accident. The school’s name was later changed to Christian Life College, and it soon became perhaps the most prominent UPCI Bible school.

Haney’s stock seemed to rise along with the college and the congregation he led, until his fellow ministers elected him to the organization’s top post in 2002.

There are plenty of other UPCI leaders not on this list who have been very influential during the past 30 years. Names like Jerry Jones, Wayne Huntley, Jeff Arnold, Nona Freeman, Lee Stoneking, Billy Cole, Jack Cuningham, Jack Yonts, J.T. Pugh, James Kilgore, C.M. Becton, G.A. Mangun, T.F. Tenney, Thetus Tenney, and Jesse Williams come to mind.

However you figure it, though, the five men I’ve listed above have certainly changed the face of the UPCI for the better. Those of us who call it our denominational home owe them a debt of gratitude for their sacrificial leadership.