Rev. Samuel J. Clark, Jr. was born May 9, 1935 to Samuel J. Clark, Sr. (1899-1984) and Daisy L. Clark (1899-1996) in Jonestown, Mississippi. Growing up in a small town environment in the deep segregated south with his four brothers and sisters, Rev. Clark's outlook on life was shaped by his experiences during this time. Samuel, Sr. and Daisy were educators with a deep sense of responsibility for the advancement of the disadvantaged in society. Professor Clark, as students and friends called Samuel, Sr., accepted a position with a Baptist organization to head their school to educate handicapped children in Winona, Mississippi. Daisy, a deeply devout Christian woman, came into the Holiness movement as a teenager under Church of Christ founder C.P. Jones. Daisy made sure all her children would be raised with a Godly influence by bringing them to church every Sunday morning. Daisy also taught by example how to live by faith in her daily life.

Daisy joined the Church of God in Christ in 1943, which would have a profound impact on the young life of Rev. Clark. At the age of eight, Rev. Clark accepted Christ into his life at the "Sanctified Church", (the church didn't have a name at the time and would be later named Healing Temple C.O.G.I.C.) the local Church of God in Christ under the pastorate of Elder Robert Booker, where he and his mother were members. Rev Clark was not as committed as his mother wanted him to be, wanting to be with the neighborhood children on Sundays instead of church. But that all changed in 1950 at the age of fifth teen Rev. Clark received the baptism of the Holy Spirit when kneeling at the alter he was touched by the spirit and fell to the floor, later speaking in unknown tongues. He later recall how he did not want to stand back up on his feet because he was so embarrassed by what had happened to him. From this time on Rev. Clark?s life would be dictated by God's holy word. Now Rev. Clark wanted to know everything he could about the Lord. Being a studious person, he studied the Bible every chance he had. Rev. Clark, who didn?t appreciate church attendance when he first received Christ, now attended church every time the doors opened looking for a blessing from God. Rev. Clark became so immerse in the church that his schoolmates tease him for it. But that did not deter him from his goal of pleasing the Lord in every aspect of his life. Rev. Clark continued to grow spiritually and as a man when one day when he was eighteen the Lord placed a calling on his life to preach and teach the gospel to the lost and edify the church. Rev. Clark began to preach in and around the small towns in Mississippi to rave reviews.

In September 1953 Rev. Clark left Winona for Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began his ministry in St. Paul Minnesota. But things weren't easy for the young southerner in the big northern city. Rev. Clark had a hard time supporting himself and after 4 months he went back to Mississippi to regroup. In May 1954 Rev. Clark went back to Minneapolis, and never looked back. Rev. Clark stayed in Minneapolis for one year under the pastorate of Overseer J.W. Graham of Graham Temple C.O.G.I.C. (later renamed First Church). During this time Rev. Clark met his future wife Effie Jones of New York City when both were visiting Mississippi.

In 1955 Rev. Clark relocated to Philadelphia where his older brother Frank and his family lived. It is here where the Lord would begin to bless Rev. Clark?s ministry and take it to new spiritual heights. Later on that year would see Rev. Clark and Effie Jones joined in holy matrimony in New York City. The couple settled into their new life back in Philadelphia. In 1957 Rev. Clark was one of the young ambitious ministers at Holy Temple C.O.G.I.C. under the pastorate of Bishop O.T. Jones, Sr. when the Lord called him to open a church in the Germantown section of the city. In September 1957 at the tender age of 22, Rev. Clark with his wife and his Mother Daisy, founded the Germantown Church of God in Christ in a 50-seat storefront at 400 East Ashmead Street. Rev. Clark had to depend on God to bring him and his family, which now included a daughter, Patricia Lynne born in 1958, through the rough early years of the church that only had a core membership of four, Rev. Clark, his wife, mother, and infant daughter. At times Rev. Clark would walk thirteen blocks, with his daughter riding piggy back, to get to church because he didn?t have enough money for public transportation. Rev. Clark would work many odd jobs around the City of Philadelphia to make ends meet for his family.

The Lord started to bless Rev. Clark's ministry with the membership of the church started to grow to near full capacity. In 1962, while reading in the Gospels on the healing ministry of Jesus, Rev. Clark received a vision form the Lord telling him to go full-time in the ministry. At that moment Rev. Clark quit his job and did just that only to be disappointed later that year when things did not go as he expected and returned to his job. Also that year Rev. and Mrs. Clark found out that their daughter was near totally deaf which devastated them. It was during this time that Rev. Clark was going through much distress in his life physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the point where he was questioning his faith in God. It was during a tent revival meeting conducted by the evangelist A.A. Allen that Rev. Clark's faith was restored and renewed.

As the church grew in membership and ministries, moving to a new larger facility in 1964, so did Rev. Clark's determination to serve God with all that he had. Rev. Clark tried and to pastor full-time once more in 1969, but it still wasn't the right time. Then in 1971 the church grew to the point where it moved to a larger building and Rev. Clark was able to leave his job at the U.S. Post Office to finally Pastor full-time. During these years the Lord blessed Rev. Clark to touch thousands of lives through the expansion of the ministry to include radio, street, and prison ministries. The Lord used Rev. Clark to heal the sick, in some cases miraculously, to cast out demons and to win many lost souls to Christ. Rev. and Mrs. Clark was blessed with three more children, Samuel, 3rd., Lucille Adelaide, and Stephen Patrick.

In 1985 the Lord Blessed Rev. Clark and the congregation of the Germantown Evangelical Church with much prayer and faith to move in their present location, a 1100 seat former synagogue where the ministry has grown by leaps and bounds including a feed the hungry ministry, a school and daycare, and the Power of Faith television ministry that reaches into millions of homes weekly. Rev. Samuel J. Clark, Jr. has experienced the highs and lows anyone will face when they dare to serve the Almighty God in this desolate world but through faith built on a fifty one year relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Rev. Clark proves not only can one make it, he can have peace in the midst of the storm