Barnett K. Thoroughgood

Barnett Karl Thoroughgood (November 7, 1949 – February 5, 2012) was an African-American Holiness Pentecostal minister and church leader of the Church of God in Christ. He was an influential pastor in the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and the Hampton Roads area of Virginia known for his public service and who served as the Commissioner of Ecclesiastical Services and the Former Adjutant General of the COGIC denomination from 2001 until his death in 2012.

Thoroughgood, with serving in the capacity of Commissioner of Ecclesiastical Services, had the responsibilities of being the international chief minister of formal religious and civil protocol for the COGIC denomination, being the chief of security for COGIC clergy at COGIC's national conventions, supervising and overseeing the installation and ordination of bishops, and overseeing public relations for the denomination. He was the fifth person appointed to this office of Adjutant General in 2000 by Bishop Chandler David Owens. He was the first person consecrated to the office of Adjutant Bishop in 2001 by then-Presiding Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson. He was appointed to the position of Commissioner of Ecclesiastical Services in 2008 by current Presiding Bishop, Bishop Charles E. Blake. He was succeeded by Bishop Matthew Williams of Orlando, FL.

Biography

Early life and education Thoroughgood was born November 7, 1949, in Princess Anne County in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to COGIC pastor, Elder John Thomas Thoroughgood and Mildred B. Cooper Thoroughgood.

Thoroughgood received his formal primary and secondary education through the Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach Public School System. He graduated from Union Kempsville High School in 1967. He attended Princess Anne Business College, 1968 - 1969 studying Standard Accounting and Business Management. He received a certificate of completion in Pastoral Counseling and Clinical Psychology from the Boston University, School of Theology, 1973–74; an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Trinity Hall College and Seminary, Springfield, Illinois, 1974; Certificate of Completion in Urban Ministries, CAUSA International Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, 1985; Certificate of Completion in American, Israel, the Middle East's Relations and Continued Studies in Comparative Religion, Jerusalem Institute and Ben Goreum University, Israel and Project Interchange an Institute of the American Jewish Committee, Washington, D. C.; Norfolk Seminary and College, Norfolk, Virginia, Bachelor of Arts, 1995; and an Honorary Doctor of Ministry and a Masters of Divinity in 2000.

Thoroughgood married Virginia Beach native, Ernestine Coston in 1975. They had two sons, Emmanuel, and Jonathan, Bertram and one daughter, Mekia Bonita. He also used much of the funds donated to his church to help partner with local Virginia nonprofit affordable housing and philanthropy organizations such as Habitats for Humanity to help build homes for the homeless of the Seatack local community, and allowed the church to provide for the finances of the housing until they were paid off.

Nationally with the COGIC denomination, Thoroughgood also served as National Regional Representative for Area Eight for the COGIC International Missions Department. He served as Chairman of Special Projects and Sponsorship for the Church of God in Christ Orphanage for Girls in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the West Indies, with which he dedicated much international community service work and leadership to the development of the orphanage.

Thoroughgood also served as a member of the Virginia Beach Clergy Association and the Virginia Beach Ministerial Alliance. He was the founding bishop of the Hampton Roads Ecumenical Council of Bishops. He was very active in the community as evident by the following awards: the Regional Postmaster General for the National Postal Forum East; American Legion’s Distinguished Achievement Award; United Counsel of Citizens and Civic Leagues Award for Meritorious Services; Church Of God In Christ Religious Worker’s Guild Inc. special achievement Award; Virginia Beach Planning Commission for Distinguished and Faithful Services; South Eastern Tidewater Opportunity Project’s Black and White Award for Outstanding Service to the Humanities; Congressional Recognition for outstanding invaluable service to the community, the United States Congress; Coalition of Minority Civic Leagues Black History Maker of Virginia; and many other resolutions, Certificates, Trophies, Awards and proclamations for outstanding services to the City of Virginia Beach. A Two-Day (Local/Jurisdiction and National) Homegoing and Funeral Celebration was held for him at the New Jerusalem COGIC and at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The eulogy at the local service was delivered by the late Bishop Samuel L. Green, Jr. at New Jerusalem. The eulogy at the National Homegoing service was preached by Bishop Charles E. Blake, the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Many local and state political officials attended both homegoing services including Scott Riggell, Will Sessoms, former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, and late Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.

Thoroughgood was succeeded as Adjutant General of COGIC by Bishop Matthew Williams of Orlando, Florida, and was succeeded by his nephew who was also a COGIC Minister and Pastor, Elder Adam L. Thourogood, Sr. as the Pastor of New Jerusalem. Pastor Adam Thourogood later died on April 21, 2015, in a tragic accident on a tractor on an industrial farm in rural Suffolk, Virginia, where he had worked for several years. He was succeeded by Bishop Barnett Thoroughgood's brother, Superintendent YD Thoroughgood, who was the current pastor of New Jerusalem, until his death on June 9, 2018. The current pastor of the church is one of his nephews, Pastor Waddee B. Thoroughgood, Jr., the son of the above mentioned Pastor YD Thoroughgood.