12 BOCNEWS.com DECEMBER 2018 Dennis Leonard, known to most as “Pastor Dennis”, stepped into the presence of his Savior on Thursday, November 1st, 2018. He was born on March 13, 1949, to Eugene and Pauline Leonard. He married Michele Kauffman on October 11, 1997 in Denver, Colorado. Preceding him in death is his father, Eugene, and closest friend, Reid Boone. Surviving are his wife, Michele, mother, Pauline Leonard, one sister, Linda (David) Crammer, two sons, Mark (Helen) Leonard and Garret (Jill) Leonard, three granddaughters, Sophia, Alexia and Chloe, and 3 nieces. It’s impossible to summarize all that Dennis Leonard had accomplished during his 35 years of ministry. However, his greatest life’s work was the church he birthed out of the basement of his home. His daily prayer was, “Lord, use me until you use me up.” If you were to ask Dennis Leonard how Heritage Christian Center came to fruition, he would have told you, “Well, I was just a building contractor who wanted to do something for the Lord.” Dennis Leonard has been described by his peers and the greater secular and spiritual community, as a true leader and an example to follow in the ministry of reconciliation between cultures and denominations. He was a real, down to earth visionary, an entre- preneurial trailblazer, and answered the call of mis- sions both overseas and here in the United States. Pastor Leonard began fulfilling his call to the ministry in 1985 when he founded Heritage Christian Center in the basement of his home as “simply a Bible study”. Ten short years later, in 1995, Church Growth Today named Heritage Christian Center, “one of America’s 100 fastest growing churches.” Heritage Christian Center hit its 33-year anniversary mark; and it is still a fast-paced, multicultural, nondenominational church with 50-plus active outreach programs. Dennis Leonard was driven by his desire to assist men and women in their efforts to become and achieve their personal best, no matter their age, social, economic or cultural background. He saw potential in everyone, and believed that once that potential was released, nothing could hold someone back from achieving anything. Pastor Leonard’s teaching style has been described as, “unique, educational and uplifting”, many times using memorable illustrations during his sermons. Leonard also used his own life as an example. In his 2004 book release, “Failure Is Not The End”, he candidly shares his own life’s failures; written with intimate, personal stories and painful lessons he’s learned through life. The vision of Pastor Leonard didn’t stop within the walls of the church, or even on the shores of our nation. In 1999, Pastor Leonard was consecrated as the Bishop of Multi-Cultural Relations in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. This new assignment, spanning the next 5 years, created an enormous demand for Pastor Leonard to speak all across this nation, teaching pastors how to build multi-cultural congregations. Presidents and national statesmen sought Dennis Leonard’s wisdom and counsel in the area of racial reconciliation. He had recurrently been invited to the White House. Pastor Leonard and other pastoral allies, met with Vice President Al Gore, and were later asked to participate on committees for both Presidents Bush and Clinton. The ministry is also responsible for contributing to the construction of much needed Christian schools in Mexico. He has sent missionaries to Mexico, the Ivory Coast, India, China, Russia, Africa and other areas of the world where people are in perilous physical and spiritual need. Dennis Leonard has traveled the world, answering the call of missions overseas. Pastor Leonard was particularly mindful of India’s desperation and com- missioned the construction of 17 churches in India. Additional endeavors to contribute positively to our community included financing and initiating the installation of 26 satellite dishes in Colorado prisons for the purpose of airing Christian televi- sion. Weekly, Heritage Christian Center sends teams of ministry volunteers into the prisons. The Prison Team has formed bas- ketball teams where they play against the prisoners, in an effort to build a trusting bond, be positive role models and have the opportunity to counsel and speak into their lives. The church’s prison ministry develops programs and services that equip, empower, support, and restore offenders and former offenders. To help them with their journey, this support is also offered to families of offenders. For the past 33 years, Pastor Leonard, with the help of many community volunteers and Heritage Christian Center, has distributed groceries, clothing, shoes, diapers, toiletries, and other non-perishables to families in need. A mass of faithful volunteers prepare food boxes each week that are given away to families in need. It is not uncommon for Heritage Christian Center to give away conservatively 40,000 pounds of food each month. Pastor Leonard is a renowned religious author with more than 15 books to his credit. His most sought after title, “Happiness Matters”, is a Christian best seller, along with “Your Best Days Are Still Ahead”, “Forgiveness Matters” and “Love Matters”. At the time of his death, he had just completed the manu- script for his newest book, “Attitude Matters”, set to be released in 2019. He had developed business relationships with EMI Gospel Music, Whitaker House Publishers, WalMart, Mardel, Lifeway, and a host of other highly respected corporations both in the United States and abroad. Pastor Leonard and Heritage Christian Center had become widely known for its cultural diversity and the music born through that diversity. The Heritage Christian Center Mass Choir has performed at various professional sporting events, including the honor of singing before President Bill Clinton during two of his visits to Denver, Colorado, and the choir performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre for President George W. Bush. Dennis Leonard was a building contractor, simply wanting to do something for the Lord…a young man afraid to even speak in front of a room full of people. The past 35 years have been quite a journey. It took a lot of stamina and vision to keep up with this man. Once, when asked what he thought when looking back over this journey, he tilted his head and with a humble smile, simply said, “No man is an island. I have been fortunate to have great people around me, leaders that dare to dream, people that don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk. When I look around, I just shake my head and say, ‘Look what the Lord has done.’” OBITUARY Bishop Dennis Leonard, March 13, 1949 – Nov 13, 2018