Linda F. Gorham

Dr. Linda Frances Gorham

Biographical Profile

Since being born again at an early age, Dr. Linda Frances Gorham has served the Lord and His church for more than forty years in many capacities, including: director of small group ministry, church-wide spiritual growth campaign coordinator, choir director, youth ministry leader, conference and retreat planner and coordinator, festival organizer, and Sunday school teacher and program coordinator.   She has a heart for youth and for seniors and a passion for helping others fully develop into all God has designed them to be as disciples of Christ, productive members of their communities, and citizens of the world.

Dr. Gorham received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Morgan State University, her M.A and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and her Master of Divinity degree from Biblical Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.  She has also received chaplain training in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Gettysburg Hospital in Pennsylvania and has served as a chaplain intern at the Lutheran Retirement Village at Utz Terrace in Hanover, PA.  Her work in the fields of education and child development includes expertise as a teacher, curriculum and program developer, and researcher.  In addition, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in education, psychology, and research methods.

Dr. Gorham is a licensed psychologist (State of Maryland) and the Founder and Principal Consultant of Paraklete Consulting, LLC, a company that specializes in program evaluation and research.  She is also Co-Founder and President of Dayspring, Inc., a non-profit community-based education organization located in Baltimore, Maryland.

During her years serving as a licensed minister and an ordained elder in the Alpha and Omega Pentecostal Church of America, Inc., Dr. Gorham was active in the teaching, preaching, bereavement, and visitation ministries of the church.  Beyond the church walls, her outreach work has included serving as a bible study teacher to incarcerated women and ministering to individuals confined to their homes or institutions.  In March 2012, she founded Spring in the Desert Ministries, a missions-oriented church and ministry, to encourage the poor and burdened, evangelize locally and globally, equip followers of Jesus for life and service, and exalt Jesus as Lord.

Dr. Gorham has been married to James A. Gorham, Jr., her partner in life and ministry, for 43 years, and they have been blessed with three adult children and five grandchildren.  In her leisure time, she enjoys playing and collecting a variety of musical instruments.  Most of all, however, she is humbled to be called a servant and friend of God.  Her favorite scripture is Philippians 3:12-14 –

“Not that I have already…been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”