Jerry Dillion

Jerry W. Dillon was born October 18, 1949, in Tylertown, Mississippi, to Preston and Jeanette Dillon. He has a very large family connection in Walthall County, Mississippi, where his grandmother and her two sisters had 47 children. He says this is the reason why he feels a love for all people, because he thought he was kin to everybody for so many years. He attended high school at Tylertown High School and then attended Southwest Junior College where he graduated with an Associates of Arts degree. During these years, he played drums for a rock band called “The Jesters.” His spiritual conversion literally shook that part of the country.

Jerry received the Holy Ghost on July 31, 1968, at Rock Hill Pentecostal Church in Monticello, Mississippi pastored by Pastor Milton O. Martin Sr. Evangelist Willie Holland was preaching a revival. Evangelist Holland had just preached a revival for Bro. Earl Carney at Stateline, Mississippi. His mother and sister received the Holy Ghost in that revival. At that time, he was attending Southwest Community College in Summit, Mississippi. Upon finishing at Southwest Community College, Jerry immediately went to Pentecostal Bible Institute in Tupelo, Mississippi.

When Jerry arrived at Pentecostal Bible Institute (PBI), Pastor Glen Ray (G.R.) Travis asked him to be his pastoral assistant at Pleasant Hill United Pentecostal Church, Corinth, Mississippi. As the year closed at PBI, Bro. Travis was elected pastor of the church in Vicksburg, and Bro. Dillon began evangelizing. He had been elected student body president for the upcoming year at PBI, but when it was time to go back, he was conducting a revival at Mount Pisgah in Leakesville, Mississippi. They had already baptized 50 adults and 20 more were in the altar. He chose not to go back to PBI but evangelized for the next 10 years.

On December 16, 1972, Jerry married Sandra Kaye Ford in her home church at Sandy Lake, Louisiana. Together, they set out on a journey that has produced fruit in the areas of evangelism, church planting, and foreign missions service. The key to their success in God is their love for people.

On March 6, 1977, Jerry was elected as pastor of the First United Pentecostal Church in Canton, Mississippi, and was pastor there for 18 years. He started Parkway Pentecostal Church in Madison Mississippi, as a daughter church, in 1991.

Bro. Dillon pastored both churches for five years, then resigned Canton to pastor in Madison full-time in 1996. Parkway Church of Madison owns 48 acres of prime land in the city limits of Madison where they built a new facility in 2015. In 2020, the new facility debt was paid in full and they ceremoniously burned the note in October 2020.

Bishop Dillon continues to lead the charge in Madison, Mississippi, alongside his son, Jason Dillon, who now serves as Pastor of Parkway Church. With a deep passion for God, people, and his city, Bishop Dillon remains a steadfast servant, dedicated to making an eternal impact in the community.

In addition to his local ministry, Bishop Dillon serves the Mississippi District UPCI as Presbyter for Section 6, further demonstrating his commitment to the work of God throughout the region.