From humble beginnings in Cocoa, Florida, Bishop L.T. Weaver, Sr. today stands as one of God’s great men of faith. Leonard Toney Weaver was born on October 2, 1934, the eighth of 14 children of Deacon Abraham Benjamin and Mother Rachel Rollins Weaver. While pregnant with him, his mother was filled with the Holy Ghost. God rewarded her faithfulness and hospitality to traveling ministers by allowing her to see her son called into the ministry.

After accepting Christ at the age of 13 and being filled with the Holy Ghost in 1949, he immediately felt the call of God and began in ministry in the Church of God in Christ under the late Elder Eddie Butts. Our late Founder Bishop C.H. Mason laid hands on Bishop Weaver and blessed his life. Bishop Weaver later was ordained as an Elder in the Church of God in Christ under the late Bishop A.M. Cohen of Miami, Florida and the late Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones, Sr. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bishop Weaver served as District Superintendent under the late Bishop E. D. Johnson in the Eastern Florida Diocese.

In 1962, Bishop Weaver was appointed as a Bishop in the Church of God in Christ and assigned to Nassau, Bahamas. The late Bishop D. Lawrence Williams, who at the time served over the Executive Board, and the late Bishop Samuel Crouch, who served over the Missions Department for the Church of God in Christ, sent Bishop Weaver out to Nassau. National Supervisor Mother Bailey appointed Mother Annie Harris of Miami to work as his Supervisor. She replaced Mother Katie Frazier. Bishop Weaver later relinquished Nassau in favor of Bishop William Grant, his friend who lived in the Bahamas.

In 1999, Presiding Bishop Chandler David Owens appointed Bishop Weaver as Prelate of Florida Sixth Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.

Bishop Weaver has served the church faithfully in various other positions, including Courier to the Board of Bishops since 1988, under the administrations of Bishops Patterson, Ford, and Owens. In addition, he serves on the Executive Committee to the General Assembly; he is secretary to the Benevolence Committee of the Board of Bishops; and chairman of the Chamber Committee of the Board of Bishops.

After graduating from Monroe High School in Cocoa, Florida in 1951, Bishop Weaver enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed abroad during the Korean War from 1952 to 1954. A 1956 graduate of American Baptist Theological Seminary of Nashville, Tennessee, Bishop Weaver continued his studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He returned to Brevard and worked at Cape Canaveral Air Station. He later sold real estate, making it possible for Blacks in the Briarwood area of Melbourne, Florida to own their own homes. Today, he serves as an administrator of United Bible College and Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He holds an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the institution.

In 1960, he began Faith Temple in his Melbourne home with four members. It quickly grew, forcing the congregation to meet in the city auditorium, then in the annex of Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. The church bought the property on Hickory Street and began building the current Greater Faith Temple. Services were held in a tent on the grounds. Word quickly began to spread about people being healed, filled with the Holy Ghost, and set free by just walking on the grounds. It drew both blacks and whites, with about 400 per service. With his family, his faithful congregation, and the community working with him, he continued to build. Bishop Weaver took jobs to help get the materials they needed, including working for lumber and electrical companies. Many of his early members were hardworking families with limited financial means, but they were faithful and gave their all to make Greater Faith Temple a reality. Several of those families continue with Bishop Weaver today, some into their fourth generations. To commemorate his elevation to jurisdictional prelate, the city of Melbourne renamed South Hickory Street, which runs in front of Greater Faith Temple, to Leonard Weaver Boulevard.

While building, completing, and expanding Greater Faith Temple, Bishop Weaver also went forth in his evangelistic calling. His miracle tent ministry reached across the nation. The blind and the lame were healed and the devil cast out. As he grew in the Lord, his ministry continued to grow. Besides his Melbourne church, he also preached out churches in Cocoa, Merritt Island, and Miami.

He moved from the tent ministry to the broadcast ministry, preaching and teaching on both radio and television. Bishop Weaver became one of the first ministers to broadcast his church services nationally. His anointed, enthusiastic style immediately drew national attention with his weekly broadcast "A Sound from Heaven" on the National Christian Network. In addition, he hosted a weekly public affairs show, "Focus on the Black Community."

Prayer always has played a vital part of Bishop Weaver’s life and ministry. In 1985, he spent a month on Prayer Mountain, as guest of Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church.

Throughout the years, Bishop Weaver has kept a high profile in the community as a civic leader and helper of people, often allowing his church to be used for community events. He has served on the Governor’s Drug Task Force under Florida Governor Bob Martinez. He also has participated in civil rights efforts and he encourages voting and organ donation.

Bishop Weaver is the husband of Mother Cleo Robinson Weaver. He is the father of three children, the grandfather of 13, and the spiritual father and mentor to many.