Arturo Skinner
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Apostle Arturo Skinner, known as the "Father of Deliverance" in black Pentecostal circles, founded the Deliverance Evangelistic Center of Brooklyn, New York, in the 1950s and founded other churches, or centers, in cities such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Newark, New Jersey; and other large and small cities up and down the East Coast. Skinner's ministry, Pentecostal in nature, focused on salvation and divine healing. There was also a strong element of the prophetic in Skinner's ministry and in the ministries of the evangelists and other clergy who received ecclesiastical training at his centers.
Hundreds of pastors credit Skinner, also known as "Apostle Skinner," as their spiritual guide as well as for being the man under whom their ministries started. Skinner is believed to be the first Pentecostal to employ the title apostle as an indicator of the spiritual gifts at work in his churches. This use has been emulated by many of his spiritual sons and daughters as well as by people unaffiliated with his movement, and even by some who are unfamiliar with his name and history altogether.
