Rev. Gerald L. Vittitow

Gerald L. Vittitow was born in a tar paper shack in Nelsonville, Kentucky, on January 19, 1939, to Pentecostal, sharecropper parents, Willard and Helen Vittitow. His dad would get cardboard boxes to tack on the inside walls to keep cold air out. While the Vittitow family was attending Greater Bethel Apostolic Church, a Pentecostal Assemblies of the World congregation, Gerald was baptized in Jesus’ name at age six. He received the Holy Ghost at age twelve, during a revival with Chester Aldridge.

In 1957, at the age of eighteen, Brother Vittitow felt the call of God to preach. Shortly thereafter, Brother Vittitow joined the Air Force Reserves and was assigned to Michigan. Every weekend he would drive more than two hours each way to attend church in Bay City. After he relocated to Bay City to work with Pastor James Silvernale, he was introduced to the pretty accordion player, Joyce Arhutick, who he married a year later, on July 29, 1961.

While working for General Electric, Gerald assisted W. E. Davis in Louisville for a time, and received his Local ministerial license in 1963. He received his General license two years later, and then assisted J. D. Langford until 1967, when he was elected pastor of Calvary Apostolic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Gerald and Joyce’s son, Kevin, was born in 1968 and their daughter, Keri, was born in 1971. Under Brother Vittitow’s leadership over the next forty years, the church grew from under one hundred to over 450 in attendance. During his pastorate, twenty men in the church received ministerial license and some of those men established new churches in Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Brother Vittitow also served as youth secretary, youth president, district secretary, and district superintendent of the Kentucky District. He was instrumental in locating, purchasing, and developing a campground for the Kentucky District. His wife, Joyce, served as secretary and president of Kentucky District Ladies Ministries from 1963 to 1997. Gerald Vittitow has served the UPCI as presiding officer for judicial procedures and as a member of the General Board. He served as an executive member of the Tupelo Children’s Mansion Board for many years.

Brother Vittitow was an honorary member of the Tupelo Children’s Mansion Board, the Kentucky District Board, and the General Board. He retired in 2007 and faithfully attended the First United Pentecostal Church in LaGrange, Kentucky. In his later years, Brother Vittitow’s faithfulness and love of the work of God continues as he is committed to the work in LaGrange.

He passed from this life on May 10, 2019.