Bishop Aletha J. Cushinberry spent her early childhood in Garden City, KS. When she moved to Topeka she was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost in 1954. From the onset of her spiritual birth, she has been a steadfast worker in the Apostolic Church. From her humble beginnings as a shy, quiet Sunday School teacher, member of the Sewing Circle, she has grown into a gallant, sweet, powerfully anointed revered woman of God.

Bishop Cushinberry has been a member of the Apostolic Church since its beginning. She has been the Pastor of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, P.A.W. for 49 years. In addition to her 61 years of working at the Apostolic Church, God has seen fit to utilize her in many offices within the Northwestern District Council (NWDC) and our parent body, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc.

In 1980, Pastor Cushinberry was elected as the first woman Chairman, (the highest office at the District level) for the NWDC. She served in this office for two consecutive terms through 1984. In 1984, she was elected as Vice-Chairman and served in that capacity until 1988. She was then assigned as Administrative Assistant to the late Bishop Samuel A. Layne who was serving as Diocesan of the Northwestern District Council at that time. She has also served as Chairman of the Pastor’s Advisory Board. She was appointed as the first woman District Elder for the NWDC by Bishop Samuel Layne in June 1995.

Dr. Aletha Cushinberry received the Pastor Wayne Franklin Award through the Living The Dream, Inc. She was the first to receive this award in 2009. In 2009 she received the Eula Goolsby Appreciation Award from the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ Christian Education Ministry.

In June of 2010 at the Northwestern District Council Session under the auspices of our former Diocesan Bishop Horace Smith, MD, former Presiding Prelate of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. District Elder Aletha J. Cushinberry was elevated and consecrated to the office of Suffragan Bishop. She was the first woman in the P.A.W. to be consecrated as Suffragan Bishop.

Suffragan Bishop Cushinberry has served on many community boards. She is the President of the Minority Housing Corporation of Topeka. She is a member of the Topeka African American and Pastor’s Coalition. She is a board member and the Vice-President of Community First, and Executive Board member of the Topeka Justice Unity Ministry Project and Treasurer.

Suffragan Bishop Aletha Cushinberry was elected to the position of Honorary Bishop and consecrated on July 31, 2015 at the P.A.W. Convention in Detroit, Michigan celebrating 100 years, by the Honorable Presiding Prelate Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III.

Bishop Aletha Cushinberry leaves to mourn her husband Larry C. Cushinberry, one brother Bobby (Aletha) Goolsby, DeSoda, Texas, two sisters Betty Hysten, Dallas,Texas and Linda (Chet) DeMoss, Topeka, Kansas. Many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends. She will be greatly missed.

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