Deep, Dark, Black Hole

Pastor Wayne Flora, D.Min., is the Coordinator for the Ministerial Internship Program in Eastern North Carolina, having served nineteen years as chair, and on the board since 1992. He has recently served as the chairman of the state's Church Planting Consultation Team and is presently member of the State Council for a fourth ensuing term. Founding pastor of the University Church (now retired) of God in Greenville, North Carolina, from 1988 - 2014, Pastor Flora has enjoyed the experiences of mentoring and ministerial development. Says Flora, "One of the most rewarding experiences in life is the challenge and joy of seeing returns on rich personal investment into the lives of others!" University Church of God, noted to be "A Growing Church of Caring People," has been Pastor Flora's most devoted venue of pastoral calling and service. Having watched the church grow from its humble inception of 18 persons to a healthy status of 250 actively-engaged attendees, he has dedicated over 60 infants born into the life of the church! A diverse and broad-aged spectrum of loving parishioners, University Church of God had been family to Pastor Flora, wife, and children for twenty-six years. Having just recently retired from pastoral ministry, he is now teaching for Lee and PTS as well as serving as Staff Chaplain and Funeral Director at his son-in-law's funeral businesses. He enjoys preaching across the state and conducting Marriage Enrichment and Prophecy Seminars. This year Pastor Flora is celebrating 45 years of marriage to his dear wife, Lou, whom he declares to be his strength and courage. She has also served 30 years as Senior Secretary at Vidant Health Medical Center in Pitt County, North Carolina. He and his wife have two wonderful children, Mitchell Stephen, 41, and Rhapsody Smith, 35, and six grandchildren, Caleb, 18, Hannah, 12, Bethany, 11, Kylah, 10, Karsten, 7, and Kendall, 2. Their son has been a prominent CAD technician, now a regional truck driver for Southeastern Trucking, and his wife, Amy, an educator and wonderful stay-on-home mother. Their daughter is a Neonatal Registered Nurse at Vidant Health and nursing educator at Pitt Community College, and her husband is owner/operator of Smith Funeral Service and Crematory in Greenville and Edwards Funeral Home & Cremations in Kinston. Pastor Flora and Lou believe family is their first and highest model of authentic, caring ministry. Pastor Flora graduated Lee in 1979 with a B.A. in Biblical-Historical Studies and a minor in New Testament Greek. He completed his Masters of Divinity at the Church of God School of Theology (now Pentecostal Theological Seminary) in 1983 with emphasis in Pastoral Care and Counseling and Christian Education. He holds an AA in Retail Marketing and Business Management from Pitt Community College (1994). He completed his Doctorate of Ministry awarded from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia in 2002 with primary emphasis in leadership development and missional intentionality. He is presently teaching for Lee University as adjunct professor in the biblical studies and pastoral ministries departments of their DAL online program as well as adjunct professor for the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in the department of church administration and leadership. He is also a graduate of Fayetteville Technical Community College in Funeral Directing and is now certified as a Licensed Funeral Director in the state of North Carolina as he assists his son-in-law in his growing funeral business. He is further Staff Chaplain for both of the funeral businesses.

Byron Eugene Gill is the Business Analyst at Hyster-Yale Group. He also the media Sound and Media Coordinator for the Faith Assemby of God in Winterville, North Carolina.

Rhapsody Flora Smith is the daughter of the author, Mitchell Flora. She is the mother of three children. She is a neonatal Registered Nurse and nursing educator. She is co-owner with her husband, Justin, of two funeral homes.