Rev. Daniel A Briggs, Ph.D.
(Brief Bio of Rev.
Daniel A Briggs, PhD.)
Rev Daniel A Briggs, Ph.D. was born in 1959.
Rev. Daniel A Briggs, Ph.D. is the son of Rev. Arthur
Briggs, (who was the son of Rev. George Briggs).
This makes Rev. Daniel A Briggs a third generation Apostolic
Pentecostal cleric (preacher/minister). He has been a pioneer
throughout his life, much like
his father and grandfather were before him. In the
summer of 1978, at a young age of 19, Dr. Briggs led
an evangelistic team in Sussex, NB Canada (under the
late
Rev. Raymond A Beesley), that doubled the
congregation size in just four months from around
200 to over 400 parishioners. After returning to
seminary that fall,
Sussex Calvary
Pentecostal Church had to build a 1400 seat
edifice (under the direction of
Rev. Joseph Beesley) to accommodate the revival
growth that Dr. Briggs had initiated. During his few
years in seminary he preached in many churches
throughout Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland.
After Dr. Briggs left seminary (NCC),
he became the Assistant Pastor at the first UPC
Pentecostal church in Moncton, NB Canada, under the
late Rev. Robert E. Grace. He helped double that
congregation in his first six months of tenure, then
spent the next six months designing and helping to
construct a new 400 seat edifice. After that, he
took a pastorate at the United Pentecostal Church in Kouchibouguac, NB Canada where he also initiated a
revival at the age of 21 in a neighboring town,
Richibucto, NB Canada, before any Pentecostal church
ever existed there. During that revival many
Catholics came to the Apostolic faith. Richibucto is
a French speaking Roman Catholic community and now,
there is a Pentecostal church there named,
The
Richibucto Church.
After Dr. Briggs left Kouchiboguac, he went to
another French speaking Catholic community, to the city
of Biddeford, Maine, to start a new "home missions"
church, that he named
First Apostolic Church of Biddeford. Shortly
after, Dr. Briggs was
ordained at the young age 22 by the United Pentecostal Church
International in the State of Maine District. He was the youngest
ever to be ordained in that state by the UPCI.
During his 15 years in Biddeford, he designed and
constructed the first church edifice of the
apostolic faith ever built
in that city. He also brought David Capotosto
and his wife into the Apostolic faith away from
their Catholic faith. David was an Italian and an
accomplished engineer who put online the first CD
plant in America, among other notable secular
accomplishments. Through teaching, discipling and
time, Dr. Briggs ordained and commissioned Rev.
David Capostoto to assume the pastorate over 25
years ago. Rev. Capotosto, his wife Carmel and
children remain there to this day and have done
wonderful things in that city and with church
members.
After Dr. Briggs left the pastorate in Biddeford, he
continued teaching and preaching with a combined total of more
than forty
years. His teaching experience includes teaching in both ecclesiastical (many churches around
the world) and secular (seminars, colleges, schools,
institutions, companies and prisons) settings.
Dr. Briggs has taught and preached (on ground) in Asia, Europe,
Canada, the Caribbean and in the USA. He has also taught
in over 190 nations though electronic
virtual technology.
Throughout his life, he founded and developed a
number of institutions, churches and secular businesses,
e.g., the
First Apostolic Church of Biddeford,
World Christian Ministries Association,
Cornerstone, Inc.,
Bangor Counseling Center,
Aletheia Logos University,
Cornerstone Theological University,
Apostolic School of the Prophets,
Olive
Press Books,
Alfred Adler Institute,
Southgate Apartments,
Briggs Global Enterprises,
Briggs Farms
and
ApostolicPentecostalChurches.church (APC), which
is a USA Apostolic Pentecostal Church
Directory.
Dr. Briggs founded WCMA (Maine) in 1993 in
Biddeford, Maine, one year
before he graduated from Walden University with a
Ph.D. In 2006 he divested it (WCMA Maine) to
World Christian
Ministries Association, Inc. (Florida). Both
were founded by Dr. Briggs. The
APC Directory was developed as
an integral part of WCMA's vision to facilitate an
arms-length unity
and connectedness between the splintered group of
Apostolic Pentecostal ministers, churches and organizations
and has had an average of 500,000 visits per year.
Dr.
Briggs' vision for WCMA
is to
greatly multiply its global outreach through
its various ministries.
Dr. Briggs is currently teaching at EFCTS to
supplement his income and to help EFCTS satisfy a
training contract they have with Ohio State University. His
position title at EFCTS is "Training Coordinator-Instructor".
His future plans, God willing, is to develop an
onground seminary and training program on a 42 acre
property he has purchased in New Mexico at the foot
of the Florida
Mountains to augment his
online school.
Brief Family History
Rev. George Briggs, who is Dr. Daniel A Briggs'
grandfather, was instrumental in bringing to and
establishing the Apostolic Pentecostal movement in
the State of Maine. Before he died, his life was often threatened by
catholic clergymen which required police protection during the time
that Rev. Nila
Mean and "Charlotte" came to Old Town, Maine to tell
"Charlotte's" life story concerning her eventual
escape from the catholic nunnery in Mexico and the
evils that occurred there. This exposure eventually
led to an FBI investigation and the closure of said
nunnery.
Rev. Arthur D Briggs, who is Dr. Daniel Briggs'
father, was also a pioneer in the State of Maine, in
the State of Maryland and in the State of Florida.
He established several floundering congregations in
various communities in Maine, e.g., Carmel,
Charleston,
Winterport, and
Houlton. In Maryland, he
helped establish the church in Smyrna. In Florida he
founded the
Calvary Apostolic Church in Oxford
(Wildwood). He also mentored several other ministers
including three of his sons and two daughters, Rev.
Bruce Briggs, Foreign Missionary Diane Briggs, Home
and Foreign Missionary
Rev. Randy Briggs, Home and Foreign Missionary Rev. Daniel Briggs and
Home Missionary Gaylene Briggs.
Florence P Briggs, who
is Dr. Daniel Briggs' mother, was a pastor's wife
for nearly fifty (50) years alongside her husband,
Rev. Arthur D Briggs. Throughout those many years
she has played piano and accordion at the churches
where her husband had pastored. She was also a
Sunday School teacher at said churches as well as
being a published writer (short stories, etc.), being published many times
by the Pentecostal Publishing House.
Rev. Bruce A Briggs, who is Dr. Daniel Briggs'
oldest brother, is currently the pastor of Calvary
Apostolic Church in Oxford, Florida. He resumed the
pastorate when Rev. Arthur Dean Briggs retired.
Missionary Diane M Murray (Briggs), who is Dr. Daniel
Briggs' oldest sister, is now deceased. She and her
husband (Rev. Richard Murray) were missionaries in
Ireland until they expired. Richard Murray, a former
Catholic, came to the apostolic faith through the
ministry at First Apostolic Church of Biddeford,
Maine, where he became a deacon.
Rev. Randy L Briggs, who is Dr. Daniel Briggs'
second oldest brother, is now deceased. He founded Rumford's first
Apostolic Pentecostal church (in Maine). He
left the pastorate in Rumford to his brother-in-law,
Rev. David Wilhoite, when he left to become a
foreign missionary in Norway, Europe.
Engineer Donald W
Briggs, who is Dr. Briggs' youngest brother, has
been a nuclear engineer for many years. His latest
tenure involved developing the computer interface
for the NextGen nuclear power plant in China and
training Chinese engineers. He is currently studying
the Chinese language in China, learning to read and
write Chinese.
Missionary Gaylene Briggs, who is Dr. Daniel
Briggs' youngest sister, began home missionary work
with her husband in the Chicago, Illinois area.
Rev. Harold Briggs, (an uncle to Dr. Daniel
Briggs), was a tank driver in WWII under General
"Blood and Guts" George S. Patton. He was one
of the only few surviving tank drivers who
first cut across the Ludendorf Bridge over the Rhine
River. He knew it was a "suicide mission" but prayed
to God
that if God protected him, he would become a
minister like his father (Rev. George Briggs). He
did survive and he did become an apostolic minister.
He too
pioneered an apostolic church in Cardville, Maine. At his
funeral, there was standing room only and overflowed
to outside the church building. The funeral procession was
more
than a mile long; nearly every brand of Pentecostal
minister was there. He was well liked and respected
by all that knew him.