Over 30 years ago Bishop W.W. Thomas and Sister Edith Thomas founded Abundant Life Christian Centre in Margate, Florida, with a message that is as relevant today as it was then: "God is a good God, He loves you, and He wants to bless you."

In February 1977 Abundant Life started, as the story goes, with "11 people, $14 and a poodle dog." Abundant Life's vision scripture is John 10:10, where Jesus said, "The thief cometh but to kill, steal and destroy, but I have come that you might have life, and that more abundantly."  Bishop W. W. and Sister Edith Thomas proclaimed God's love for His children and His desire to bless them, a truth that resonated in the hearts of the people, and the church experienced tremendous rapid growth. Moving from home meetings to a park, then to a store in The Village Shoppes at 1500 N. State Road 7, the church eventually bought the entire facility and transformed it into a church and a school, Abundant Life Christian Academy.

Continuing to grow, Abundant Life and the Academy moved to a larger facility at 1490 Banks Road about ten years later. In 1988 Bishop W. W. Thomas passed the mantle of Senior Pastor to his son Bishop Rick Thomas, DD. Dr. Rick Thomas and his wife Pastor Kathy Thomas have led the church in continual growth.

Consecrated as Bishop under the auspices of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, Bishop Rick Thomas is a Pastor-teacher who finds the Word of God a dynamic force that empowers you toward an "abundant life" in Jesus. Abundant Life has seen thousands make decisions for Christ, lives changed, and marriages healed. With outreaches that minister to every ethnic background, age and need within the community (including ministry geared specifically to teens, junior high schoolers and children) and a strong emphasis on missions, they have taken the message of God's love around the world. Their strong leadership has been instrumental in fulfilling the vision of a fully-accredited Christian Academy with 400 students from pre-school through eighth grade.

Bishop Rick is a man of vision and continues to impart the vision of God to the house, keeping the ministry of Abundant Life Christian Centre strong and vital for the 21st Century.