Bishop Michael Jerome Laney
"Bishop Michael Jerome Laney is the founder and CEO of Faith House International Ministries Inc.(2002), a 501c3 ministry that provides educational funding for the next generation of Christian leaders in East Africa. A global citizen and missionary, he has traveled to over 48 nations."
Bishop Michael Jerome Laney is a native of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, North Dartmouth, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with honors. Upon graduation, he accepted a commission in the United States Army Signal Corps as a Second Lieutenant and entered active duty.
He held command and deputy command responsibilities at the Captain and Major level, and was responsible for 1,000 soldiers and civilians and the command and control of assets in excess of $110 million. He retired as a Major with 20 years of federal service.
Laney completed the Ph.D. in Communications with a cognate in Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). He was an Appalachian College Association, Mellon Fellow while at UTK from 1997-1998.
Laney gave his life to Christ on September 1981, and has faithfully served Jesus Christ for 40 years in various capacities during the periods (1982-1995): Sunday School teacher, ordained deacon, evangelist, ordained minister, senior pastor, in various ministries such as: the United Church of the Living God (Bishop Perry Kerney-Stuttgart, Germany), Ministry to the Military, (Bishop Roy Humphrey-Seoul, Korea), and Associate Pastor, Saint James Cumberland Presbyterian Church America (Rev. Rhonda Westfield, Cleveland, TN).
On July 29, 2000, Laney was consecrated and ordained as a Bishop in the Church of God International (Cleveland, TN), by Bishop Donald Logan, on July 29, 2000.
Laney is the founder and CEO of Faith House International Ministries Inc.(2002), a 501c3 ministry that provides educational funding for the next generation of Christian leaders in East Africa. A global citizen and missionary, he has traveled to over 48 nations.
In 2002, Laney was named Department Chair of the Communication and the Arts Department at Lee University (LU). He was also granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2005. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels in mass communications, published his research in various journals and spoken at numerous conferences and forums around the world.
In 2006 he developed the first Communications doctoral program for Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya, which was exported to 22 African nations.
Laney assumed his duties as Dean and Professor over the College of Arts and Sciences at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio, Texas on July 2, 2012. He was responsible for the oversight and management of an annual budget of $3.8 million in support of 39 full time faculty, and over 500 students.
As dean he managed the general education core, as well as all personnel, budget, curriculum, advising, equipment, and facilities.
Laney assumed his duties as Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Savannah State University (SSU) in Savannah, Georgia on January 2, 2018. SSU is the oldest public historically black university in Georgia. He was responsible for the oversight and management of an annual $30 million budget in support of 200 full time faculty, five academic deans, and over 4,100 students.
As Chief Academic Officer, he was a member of the President’s Executive Leadership Council, he oversaw operation of the academic sector, as well as all personnel, budget, curriculum, advising, equipment, and facilities.
He retired from higher education on July 1, 2021, with 25 years of service and now resides in Fayetteville, Georgia, with his spouse, Reverend Leonora Suggs Laney, formerly of Hampton, Virginia. Together they have raised three adult children, ReAnna, Mikaela, and James-Michael.
