Dr. George Dix Jr. - Senior Pastor

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George Dix, Jr. is the Senior Pastor, Founder of PASSAGE Family Church and President of the PMI Ministerial & Leadership Development Institute based in Gainesville, Florida.

 

Pastor George grew up in Gainesville in a Christian home with two siblings and is the son of the late Elder George Dix, Sr. and his living mother Edith Dix. 

 

Pastor George received his foundational ministry training and ordination while a member of Church of God by Faith, Inc., based out of Jacksonville, FL.

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Pastor George holds a Doctorate of Divinity degree from St. Thomas Christian University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida. His engineering career spanned twenty seven (27) years in various professional and managerial positions, including Division Manager of Electric Transmission & Distribution Operations, and Manager of Systems Control.  He also served as Ambassador to Italy for Rotary International and President of the IBM GIS International User’s Group.

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Pastor George is a passionate educator and Kingdom builder.  He is, particularly, a strong advocate for Christian-based education. He and his wife Michele officially launched PASSAGE Ministries in March of 2002.  Together they also established their first church location, a second church site in Gainesville, three (3) certified pre-schools, a certified kindergarten thru 12th grade high school, a Ministerial Institute, a daily radio broadcast, and a social media internet ministry. He is an international speaker, leadership trainer, visionary, and business entrepreneur. PASSAGE Ministries' has global missions and evangelism efforts in North America, Haiti, Africa, and the Dominican Republic. 

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Among other things, Pastor George's vision for PASSAGE includes constructing and operating a technologically advanced corporate office and campus that integrates church, family, community, and business enterprises.  He also envisions expanding their educational and international outreach endeavors. 

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His greatest earthly pleasure is spending time with his wife of 36 years; his greatest joy is his family. His passion is "Kingdom" work.  His most loving memory is his father, the late Rev. George Dix, Sr.

Lady Michele Dix

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Lady Michele Dix is the First Lady of PASSAGE Family Church.  Hailing from Altamonte Springs, Fl., Lady Michele is the daughter of Deacon & Mother Jesse Mathews and has four sisters and three brothers.  In October, 1984, her life was forever changed when she relocated to Gainesville, FL and married the love of her life, George B. Dix Jr. From this union; God blessed them with 3 beautiful children: Petra (Robert), Ben (Jessica) and Cassie (Jason).  She and Pastor George are the proud grandparents of five amazing grandchildren (with another little girl on the way); Jackson, Sterling, Ben IV, Nathan and Nova.

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Lady Michele gives so much of herself to the Partners of PASSAGE as well as the community.  Her love draws the affection of young and old alike. She is affectionately known to the congregation as “Lady” & “Mom” and she is widely known for her loving hugs and beautiful spirit. 

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Lady Michele has dedicated her life to “reaching people where they are” and partnering with her husband to help in the expansion of God’s Kingdom.  She spends countless hours helping to build the ministry and serve its partners.  There is no job too big or too small for her, you can find her cooking in the kitchen, counseling and mentoring women and young ladies and visiting the ministry's schools.  She also spearheads the Ladies of PASSAGE Women’s Ministry; Vow of Purity which teaches and encourages abstinence until marriage; Youth Mentorship Program which focuses on accountability, financial planning, community involvement, education preparedness, leadership development and so much more.   Lady Michele serves on the Executive Board and also directs the Church's Corporate Administrative Office, all coupled with being a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.

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Lady Michele Dix is an international speaker and psalmist for the Kingdom whose impact within the community has bestowed upon her many honors.  Above all else, she is an awesome woman of God who loves the Lord with all of her heart, mind and soul and counts it an honor and a privilege to serve God and to help lead people to their divinely appointed place in Him.

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“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”(Proverbs 31:10)

Pastor Johnny Boswell

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Johnny B. Boswell, Sr. was born in Brooklyn, New York and is the son of the late Lizzie Mae Hankerson and Johnny Boswell. Johnny received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior at the tender age of 25 in 1983.

 

Johnny, also, served his country via the Army for three years. It was during this time in his life as he was walking in a mall in Alabama that he heard the voice of God audibly call his name. He knew it was the call to ministry but he did not accept it. He later accepted the call on his life of Evangelist/Pastor in 1989 as a member of Freewill Baptist Church in Starke, Florida. He has served in the capacity of Elder of PASSAGE Family Church since December 9, 2007.

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In October of 2018, Elder Johnny became the Chief of Ministry Operations (CMO) of PASSAGE Ministries, Inc. We are excited to have him as a member of the leadership team at PMI and look forward to his enduring service of spreading the word of God with us all over the world. The Lord has anointed him to speak an encouraging word into the body of Christ with the added gift of humor. Johnny is happily married to Pastor Palenthia Boswell. They have three wonderful sons, Johnny, Jr., Joshua and Jevon.

Pastor Sheila Baker-Bell

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Sheila D. Baker-Bell was born in Miami, Fl to the late Gloria Nelson and William Wims, Sr.  She was educated in Dade county schools.  She is the sole proprietor of Hair Zone Hair Salon.

Sheila’s conversion experience occurred 30 years ago  while visiting a church in Gainesville . The Word came forth in such a loving yet convicting way that she was moved to give her life to the Lord immediately.

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Sheila experienced the clarion call of  the Holy Spirit that set a fire beneath her to become a difference maker in the earth realm about  20 years ago. To  build upon her biblical studies of the Word she attended  Refreshing Faith Bible College, Life Christian University and MLDI @ PASSAGE. She has served in the capacity of Associate Pastor of PASSAGE Family Church since  December 8, 2007.

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The legacy she would like to leave would be  that her life exemplified  the virtues of a woman of God and that she was a true disciple maker.

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Sheila’s favorite biblical character is Job because no matter the tumultuous obstacles and challenges he faced...his faith/trust in God never wavered.

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Sheila is the proud mother of five precious children : Robert, Oluwatoyin, Dante (deceased), Ben and Janta.

Pastor Palenthia L. Bowsell

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Palenthia L. Boswell is the proud daughter of Mother Zola M. Simmons-Johnson and the late Reginald A. Johnson.  She attended school in the Alachua County School District.

 

At the tender age of 18 years old, the Lord revealed to Palenthia her call to Worship Ministry. Once this calling was made clear, she had no hesitation in pursuing this great call.  In describing her spiritual encounters, it would be "A Heart of Worship for the King". Palenthia’s love for the Lord is so great that her motto for each day is “to please Him with all that she has.”

Years later, God revealed the Prophetic and Evangelism calls upon her life.   She has served in the capacity of Associate Pastor of PASSAGE Family Church since December 7, 2014. 

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Palenthia’s  favorite biblical character is David because of his approach to life. First, he was chosen by God and no man could get that glory. Secondly, he loved the Lord with all of his heart.  This is evident in his praise and worship of God and in the God-inspired words he wrote in the Book of Psalms. 

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The legacy Palenthia would love to leave is: Don't get so caught up in earthly things that you become no heavenly good.  In other words, remember that only what you do for Christ will last. 

 

She has been married to the love of her life, Elder Johnny Boswell, Sr. for over 20 years. They share 3 honorable young men, Johnny Jr., Joshua and Jevon.

Nedra Bates - Chief Operating Officer

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Nedra Bates was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and is the daughter of Min. Christine Bates and Retired-Pastor Alfred Taylor. Nedra received the gift of Jesus Christ in her life in January 1998 after accepting an invitation to service at New Life Christian Fellowship in Ft. Lauderdale, FL Nedra immediately joined the church and has remained a faithful servant of Christ.

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Nedra relocated from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Gainesville, FL in January 1994. She was a faithful member of Church of by Faith until she moved her membership to PASSAGE Family Church in March of 2002. In 2006, Nedra wanted to grow and expand her spiritual knowledge and leadership within the Body of Christ. She applied and was accepted into the PASSAGE Family Church-Ministerial Leadership and Development Institute (MLDI). After 2 years of rigorous study and commitment, Nedra graduated in October 2008 as a licensed Minister, subsequently, in December 2013, Nedra became an ordained Minister.

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Nedra became an employee of PASSAGE Ministries, Inc., (PMI) in February 2008 as the Director of Corporate Services. Some of her primary areas of responsibilities included but were not limited to Human Resources, Facilities, Information Technology, Risk Management, and Records & Inventory Management. In October 2014, Nedra was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of PMI. The Chief Operating Officer is the chief of staff for PASSAGE Ministries, Inc. with executive leadership and management responsibility for day-to-day business affairs and operations, not including ecclesiastical functions. The COO is principally responsible for overseeing and directing corporate and enterprise operations of PMI, including strategic planning, business development, marketing and enterprise performance analysis, and reporting. The COO also has responsibility for business start-up management, human resources, risk management, and policy and regulatory compliance functions. Nedra is actively involved in ministry, as well. She is currently engaged in the Youth Mentorship Program, Ladies of Passage-Women’s Ministry, Ministry Events, ministerial assignments and Armourbearer to Lady Michele Dix.

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The legacy she would like to leave is that she was a woman who sought to please God in all areas of her life and that God’s love was seen and felt in her life. Nedra’s favorite character in the Bible is Esther because she bloomed in adversity. Esther stood strong in the Lord in the midst of the challenges that came her way but sought God through it all. She leaned into her Savior. Her favorite book is Joshua. He accepted the mantel after the death of Moses in humility and followed after God and lead the people of God on to victory in Christ.

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Nedra is the proud MOMTY of three beautiful children: Vera (Leo), Derrick II (Karzaira) & Thomas and has 5 bonus grandchildren: Alphozo & Kingston (Vera) and Karielys, Brayden & Derrick III (Derrick II).