Bishop Jocelyn Carita Thornton is the General Overseer of Rehoboth Global Network--a global preaching, teaching, evangelistic, and philanthropic network developed to bring connection, collaboration, and collegiality between leaders and ministries in the Body of Christ.

A prophetic psalmist and preacher of the Gospel, Bishop Thornton's roots lie deep in educational leadership and spiritual development. A native of Chicago, Illinois she has served in various church leadership positions, including Associate Pastor and Minister of Christian Education, throughout the Midwest and Southern states and co-labored with prominent men and women of the Gospel for over 20 years. Additionally, Bishop Thornton had the honor of serving as the Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Covenant Church for six years. In doing so Bishop Thornton was the first woman, as well as the first African American woman, to plant a church in the Central Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Bishop Thornton was licensed to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ on December 3, 2000 and ordained to Christian ministry on December 9, 2001. In 2011, Bishop Thornton was affirmed in the Office of Apostle and in 2012 was consecrated to the Episcopacy by Bishop Janice Fountaine, Apostle and Presiding Prelate of the Five-fold Church Fellowship, Brentwood, Maryland. In 2014, Bishop Thornton received full Apostolic Succession in the Episcopacy by the right hand of Bishop Gregory St. James Dillard, Presiding Prelate of All Nations Covenant Assemblies, Matteson, Illinois. In July 2019, Bishop Thornton received full Apostolic Succession from Bishop J. Delano Ellis, II, the Presiding Prelate of the Pentecostal Churches of Christ headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Bishop Thornton has been blessed to receive the Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a concentration in Finance, from Loyola University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois; the Master of Divinity degree from the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia; and the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching degree from North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.This accomplishment afforded Bishop Thornton the honor of being the first African American women to graduate with the Doctor of Ministry degree from North Park University.

Bishop Jocelyn Carita Thornton is a trailblazer and a visionary; she is a woman committed to a vision from God to impact men and women for God’s Kingdom and God’s glory.