Bishop Raymond E. Watts, Ph.D.
Jurisdictional Prelate

Dr. Raymond E. Watts

Bishop Raymond E. Watts was born in the small town of McKeesport Pennsylvania to the late Deacon Robert Watts and now 86 years old Mother Fannie Watts. He has been a member of the Church of God in Christ all his life, His first pastor being, the late Bishop Ithiel Clemmons.

Bishop Watts was ordained an elder of the Church of God in Christ in June 1976 by the late Bishop J.A. Blake. At the age of 26 years old Bishop J.A. Blake installed him as pastor of New Gethsemane COGIC (Now known as New Direction Community COGIC), where he has served for 26 years. The church is known for its community involvement and gained the title as “The Church who Feeds People” in the city of Pomona during the homeless crisis of 1987 through 2002. He was voted Humanitarian of the year by the City of Pomona in 1992 as the church provided daily hot lunches, shelter, shower vouchers, and job placement to thousands of low income residents of the City of Pomona. There were times when more than 300 people received hot lunches per day.

Bishop and Lady Watts

Bishop Watts was the founder and superintendent of the Inland Empire District, Church of God in Christ Southern California First Jurisdiction, and Administrative Assistant to Bishop Charles E. Blake. He developed foundational Sunday School Growth Principles and has assisted many young ministries and start-up churches in developing church growth and community evangelism procedures. He is an outstanding preacher, lecture, conference speaker, and Bible teacher.

On January 1, 2006, New Gethsemane Church of God in Christ Inc., changed its name to New Direction Community Church of God in Christ, Inc.; remaining under the leadership of Bishop Raymond E. Watts and is involved in building a 55,000 square feet worship center in the city of Pomona.

On November 14, 2006 Bishop Watts was inducted into the College of Bishops and consecrated as the Jurisdictional Prelate of California Southern Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the 5.5 million member Church of God In Christ, Inc.

Bishop Watts is the CEO of Pomona Ministry of Economics, Inc., a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation involved with developing affordable housing in Pomona and surrounding cities. Other community work includes board member of Habitat for Humanity Pomona Valley and providing career training in electronics for the Los Angeles Urban League students, and he and his wife are the owners of Crystal Montessori Academy, Pomona.

Bishop Raymond E. Watts holds a B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with emphasis in bio-medial electronics, a M.A. in Business Administration, an M.A. in Religion, and a Ph.D. in Church Administration. He is the loving husband of Mrs. Anita Y. Watts, and the father of four children, three girls, Sheri, Rayna, and Celeste, one boy Raymond II and one grandson Myles.

Celeste, Lady Watts, Rayj, Bishop, Sheri, & Rayna Watts