In Loving Memory of

Follower of Christ and a Man of Ministry

Bishop Dr. Adrian Laurence Varlack, Sr., beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, teacher, historian, pastor, scholar and servant of Jesus Christ, entered into the presence of his Lord on August 4, 2026 after a lifetime devoted to faithfully advancing the Kingdom of God. His life was marked by unwavering devotion to Christ, exceptional scholarship, humble leadership, and a steadfast commitment to serving others through his work with the Church of God of Prophecy and his personal call to minister to everyone everywhere. 

Adrian Laurence Varlack, Sr., the first son of Carl Laurence and Floresa Eglantine Rhymer Varlack, was born on October 24, 1944, on the tiny island of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands. The third of seven children, he was affectionately known as "Spooch" or "Ado" by family and friends. From an early age, Adrian displayed remarkable intelligence, curiosity, and determination. He loved spending time with his family, swimming, fishing, climbing "the big rock," and playing with friends. His love for music began in childhood as he taught himself to play the guitar by carefully watching others. When guitars were scarce on Anegada, he fashioned one from a piece of wood and strings until he was eventually given a real instrument.

Adrian attended the Anegada Methodist School, where he quickly rose to the top of his class. At the age of fourteen, during an island-wide revival held in that Methodist schoolhouse, he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. That same year, he preached his first sermon, beginning a ministry that would span more than seven decades.

Graduating from school at just fifteen years of age, Adrian returned a year later as a teacher before accepting a position with the Customs and Immigration Service on Tortola in 1961. During his six years of service, he met the love of his life, Janice Smith, a native of Tortola. They were united in marriage on June 10, 1966, beginning a partnership in life and ministry that would endure for more than sixty years. Together they later moved to St. Thomas, where they began raising their family.

While employed as an Accounts Clerk and Bookkeeper in St. Thomas, Adrian continued his education at the College of the Virgin Islands, studying Advanced Accounting, Principles of Management, Business Law, and Federal Taxation. Licensed as a Business and Management Consultant in 1968, he successfully operated his own consulting firm for five years while faithfully serving in numerous church leadership roles.

His calling to ministry steadily expanded as he served as a bi-vocational pastor, evangelist, national treasurer, and convention committee chairman within the Church of God of Prophecy. In 1972, he was ordained a bishop and appointed to the Church's International Offices, beginning twenty-two years of international leadership in missions and church administration. During that time, he served as Mission Representative to Africa and the Caribbean, World Mission Secretary, and interim overseer for Haiti, Greece, Israel, Egypt, and Indonesia. In many of these nations, he helped mentor and prepare indigenous leaders to assume responsibility for the work of the Church.

Throughout his distinguished ministry, Bishop Varlack served on numerous international boards, committees, and task forces, including the Biblical Doctrine and Polity Committee, World Missions Committee, Administrative Committee, Educational Committee, Youth Missions, and World Harvest. He also chaired the Presbytery Working Group responsible for drafting documents that helped implement plural leadership within the Church of God of Prophecy.

Following two years as Administrative Assistant to the General Overseer and Director of Ministerial Services, he served three years as National Overseer of Canada. An internationally respected conference speaker, he ministered at international assemblies, leadership conferences, youth events, retreats, crusades, conventions, and other gatherings around the world.

In 1999, Bishop Varlack joined Leadership Development and Discipleship Ministries at the Church's International Offices, where he served for nineteen years as a faculty member and instructor for the Center for Biblical Leadership. During the 2006 International General Assembly, he was appointed Church Historian, a role he fulfilled with exceptional dedication. In 2018, he was appointed Consultant to the General Overseer while continuing his responsibilities as Church Historian.

A gifted author and scholar, Bishop Varlack faithfully chronicled the history and theology of the Church he loved. He was a regular contributor to the White Wing Messenger, the official publication of the Church of God of Prophecy, and authored articles, Sunday school curricula, leadership resources, and college-level instructional materials. His published contributions include Servants of the Spirit, edited by Andrea Johnson; The Pentecostal Minister, Volume 3, edited by Floyd D. Carey and Hoyt E. Stone; and his own volume in the Church's Foundations Series, Foundations—Church of God of Prophecy: Concise History, Polity, Doctrine, and Future, released by White Wing Publishing House in 2010.

Although Bishop Varlack retired from international appointment in July 2022, he never retired from ministry. He continued teaching, mentoring, encouraging leaders, and preserving the rich history of the Church he faithfully served. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, the Church of God of Prophecy, under the leadership of General Overseer Bishop Tim Coalter, dedicated the Adrian L. Varlack, Sr. Library and Archives in his honor in October 2022. On August 2, 2024, under the leadership of Leadership Development and Discipleship and Center for Biblical Leadership Executive Director Bishop Jeffery Davis, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Western Theological Seminary in recognition of his lifetime of service and scholarship.

Those who knew Bishop Varlack remember not only his remarkable intellect but also his love for his family, his gentle spirit, his humility, and his genuine pastoral heart. His preaching reflected a profound love for Scripture. His teaching combined careful historical research with sound theological reflection. His leadership consistently pointed others beyond personalities and institutions to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the mission of His Church.

His influence extends through the countless pastors, missionaries, educators, ministers, and lay leaders whom he mentored across the globe. Generations have benefited from his wisdom, integrity, encouragement, and unwavering commitment to biblical truth and the unity of the body of Christ.

Above all his accomplishments stood his love for his family. Throughout every season of ministry, he remained deeply grateful for the faithful support, sacrifice, and partnership of his beloved wife, children, and extended family, whose love made decades of international service possible. His love of music will be remembered in his dancing and singing when the Bahama Brass Band played “music with spirit” and his emotional leading of “Beautiful Star of “Bethlehem” with his guitar at Christmas.

The legacy of Bishop Adrian L. Varlack, Sr. reaches far beyond the offices he held, the books he authored, or the honors he received. His enduring contribution lies in serving his family, helping the Church remember God's faithfulness, understand its identity in Christ, and move confidently into the future. Through preaching, teaching, historical scholarship, leadership development, and faithful service, he helped shape generations of believers throughout the worldwide Church of God of Prophecy.

His life stands as a powerful testimony to faithful stewardship—of family, of Scripture, of history, of leadership, and above all, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Having fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith, he now rests in the presence of the Savior whom he faithfully served throughout his life.

Bishop Dr. Adrian Laurence Varlack, Sr. was preceded in death by his parents, Carl Laurence and Floresa Eglantine Rhymer Varlack; his brother, Raphael Gustav Varlack; and his beloved granddaughter, Andrea Latrice Varlack.

He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife of more than sixty years, Janice Smith Varlack; his children, Adrian (Adrienne) Varlack, Jr., Roxanne (Nathanael) Corbett, Gerald (Faith) Varlack, Glynis Varlack-Allgood, Charmaine (Curtis) Bridgeman, James (Dawne) Varlack, and John (Terri) Varlack; his cherished grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his siblings, Mabel Vanterpool, Berenice (Wilfred) Vanterpool, Ilva "Monty" (Reuben) Piper, Warneford (Julicia) Varlack, and Dorothy Bhimull; his much beloved in-laws along with a host of nieces, nephews, extended family members, and countless spiritual sons and daughters around the world who lovingly knew him simply as "Dad."

Though he has departed this earthly life, Bishop Varlack's influence will continue to be felt through the lives he touched, the leaders he shaped, the history he preserved, and the unwavering testimony of a life wholly surrendered to Jesus Christ. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”