The Rev. Dr. Theodore R. Goyins organized the Heard AME Federal Credit Union in 1980 while pastoring Heard AME church. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina. While serving his first pastorate at Bethel A- M. E. Church in Madison, New Jersey, he attended Drew University. He received an honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree and a Doctor of Divinity Degree from the B. F. Lee Theological Seminary, now the Edward Waters College, in Jacksonville, Florida. A Doctor of Laws Degree was conferred upon him by the Monrovia College and Industrial Institute of the A. M. E. Church in Monrovia, Liberia, and West Africa.