New Zion Baptist Church Presents and Acknowledges Guest Speaker Kev. Wayne G. Thompson, St. Petersburg, FI Reverend Dr. Wayne G. Thompson, a native of St. Petersburg, Florida, is the pastor of First Baptist Institutional Church since 1983. A Christian gentleman, a sensitive pastor, an effective counselor and an intelligent theologian, Dr. Thompson is dedicated to the growth and development of God's ministry and is an excellent preacher of God's Word. Dr. Thompson possesses a genuine interest in and commitment to Child Welfare Reform for African American children in both the state and the nation. Dr. Thompson's zeal for being outspoken on issues of great concern to his congregants and community and his uncanny gift for communication has afforded him noted gubernatorial appointments and has made him a much sought after preacher, lecturer, and facilitator. Two such appointments include his being positioned on the Southern Ecumenical Council of Maternal and Infant Health and being chosen the keynote speaker for the State Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance in Sanford, Florida. An avid traveler both domestically and abroad, Dr. Thompson has been to almost everyone of the fifty States of America and to several foreign countries, including Russia, France, Germany, England and Belgium. He journeyed to the Soviet Union as one of 50 ministers on a month-long Peace and Friendship tour where he preached in four cities: Moscow, Rostov, Tbilisi and Volgograd. In his extended ministry, Dr. Thompson meets regularly with the Governor and his staff as an advisor on adoption issues and maintains a high-profile on the local level as an outspoken leader regularly fighting for the rights of the community against police brutality, poverty and issues related to education. Dr. Thompson was featured in a Washington Post editorial, which discussed the need for Congress to ensure that children would be provided for when they need a retreat from dysfunctional family units. He also engineered a recruitment intensive effort that found homes for more than 875 black boys and girls. He lobbied the White House and the U.S. Congress on Child Welfare Reform and provided training to President Clinton and members of Congress on the need to keep the entitlement for more than 6 million children in tact.