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Bishop Otto T. Houston, III, was born October 7, 1943
to Vivian L. and Otto T. Houston, Jr., in Kansas City, Missouri. He is one
of two children. His childhood and early years were spent in Kansas City,
Missouri and Los Angeles, California.
Bishop William F. Taylor, founder of the Metropolitan
Spiritual Churches of Christ, Inc. (MSCC - the national parent body of the
Spiritual Churches in America) prophesied his birth to his grandmother, Mrs.
Mildred B. Houston around 1939, before his parents met. The prophecy
from Bishop Taylor was that Reverend Houston would be a Blessed child.
Elder Leviticus Lee Boswell, Co-Founder of MSCC, then
the Pastor of the Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ (the Mother church
of the National Organization), placed Reverend Houston on the Altar at
the age of six.
Reverend William B. Hurse, then the Pastor of the
Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ, instructed him, at the age of
eleven, to come to church on Saturday mornings to learn how to care for the
Altar, under Mrs. Jannie Jamison, Supervisor of the Altar Boys.
Reverend Henri Lawson, Pastor of Metropolitan Spiritual
Church of Christ at this time, acknowledged that healing was present in his
hands when he was fifteen years old.
In 1962, Reverend Houston founded the Altar Boys
Workshop of MSCC, now known as the Acolytes Workshop, where he served as
National President from its inception, until April 1996 (when he was
elevated to the MSCC Board of Directors.) He is proud to have served
all of the leaders of MSCC except Bishop William F. Taylor (because of his
age.)
He has been a dedicated member of MSCC for over 50
years and continues to serve this organization as an Officer.
In 1968 he was invited by Reverend Clarence H. Cobbs,
Mrs. Julia Mae Kennedy and Mr. Ralph Goodpasture to move from Kansas City,
Missouri to Chicago, Illinois.
He was consecrated for the Ministry in June 1986 by
Reverend Eugene D. Gray and received his license to preach in July of the
same year. He was ordained as a Minister in July 1988.
In September 1968, at Metropolitan’s Church
Anniversary, a Prophet from Mother Nash’s church (located in St. Louis,
Missouri) told him that he would be a pastor of a large church, and that it
would be very successful. It had been prophesied that Reverend Houston
would become the Pastor of First Church of Deliverance. He first heard
of the prophecy in his late teens and repeatedly thereafter.
In 1994, he was selected as one of three Co-Pastors
(commonly called “The Triarchy”) of the First Church of
Deliverance, and served until he was selected by an overwhelming majority of
the members to become Pastor of the First Church of Deliverance on March 17,
1996.
On May 26, 1996, Reverend Otto T. Houston was installed
as the pastor of First Church of Deliverance.
On July 24, 2009, Bishop Otto T. Houston III was
consecrated and elevated to the office of 1st Vice Coadjutor of our national
organization, Metropolitan Spiritual Churches of Christ, Inc.