Pastor Raymond L. Thornton, Sr. was born September 20, 1947, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He attended Elizabeth City State College, Baltimore School of the Bible, Arlington Bible College, Liberty University and Winfield Bible Institute. Pastor Thornton has been in ministry for 29 years and served at Manna Bible Baptist Church under the direction of Pastor Joseph Brown as an associate minister for 7 years. In 1994, he became the Senior Pastor of Pilgrim’s Way Bible Baptist Church, located at 6501 Parsons Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21215 and has served in this capacity on a fulltime basis for the past 22 years. Having been married for 49 years, he and his wife, Joyce Thornton, are the parents of two sons, the late Raymond L. Thornton, Jr. and Tony Thornton.