Faith Temple, Taylors, SC

Pastor Raymond D. Burrows Honoring Pastor Raymond D. Burrows of Faith Temple, Taylors, SC, on Pastor Appreciation Day ...  By Shannon Michael Jones   The month of October is recognized as Pastor Appreciation Month, with the second Sunday designated as Pastor Appreciation Day. It is a special time to recognize and express our gratitude for the men who faithfully serve as shepherds of their congregations, providing spiritual guidance, encouragement, and support through life’s many challenges.   As our church celebrated Homecoming (Oct. 18, 2026), we also took time to acknowledge and honor our pastor, Raymond Burrows, for his dedication and the many ways he serves our church family. During the service, Barbara Crain read the poem “When We Come Home Again” in honor of our pastor, offering a meaningful tribute to the man who faithfully ministers to our congregation.    Being a pastor involves much more than standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning. It is a callin...

  The original Faith Temple Church building is shown on Dec. 15, 1957, dedication day. When over 200 people met in 1956 and formed Faith Temple Church of Taylors, SC, I was there. My parents, younger sister, and I (nine years old) rode to the Ben Paris farm in upper Greenville County on Sunday morning, Dec. 16, 1956, and entered a small, weathered building located in a field of broom straw. Once a country store, that wooden structure became the first meeting place for a “Faith Temple for all people.” Attendees wanted the Rev. James (“Jimmy”) H. Thompson to start a church. He had resigned as pastor of Gum Springs Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC), and some members of that group asked him to start an interdenominational church. Having grown up in Double Springs Baptist Church, he had moved into the PHC denomination after a baptism-in-the-Holy-Spirit experience (with the evidence of "speaking in tongues"). He eventually became a leader in the Charismatic Movement.  That effort i...

Joyce and Perry Yoder A charter member of Faith Temple—she was there at the church’s beginning—Mrs. Joyce Yoder, 78, was born on Jan. 23, 1948, to Mr. Belton and Mrs. Grace Rainey. They attended Gum Springs Pentecostal Holiness Church, Taylors, SC. Her father was a “chemical mixer” at Union Bleachery and worked at plumbing, digging wells, etc.    “Dad dug the first well at Faith Temple (FT),” Joyce says. “He got Mr. William Moody to paint the baptistry in the first auditorium.” Mr. Rainey died at age 65.       Joyce’s mother, youngest of 14 children, was a sister to Mrs. Lorraine Hardin, wife of Mr. Monroe Hardin, a FT deacon. The Hardins owned “Hardin’s Five and Dime” in Sans Souci. Lorraine sang with Mrs. Lena Hannon and Mrs. Mable Robertson. Grace attended Holmes Bible College, worked at Stone Manufacturing, taught school, retired from Steel Heddle, worked eight years as a public admin judge, and helped get a section of State Park Road named “Rev. ...

Mr. Don Lollis   T he funeral for Mr. Don Lollis, 83, US Army veteran, former Faith Temple treasurer and board member, was held at 11 a.m. at Woods Mortuary, Greer, SC, on Mon., Sept. 21, 2026. Family, friends, and fellow Michelin retirees gathered. Faith Temple’s Pastor Raymond D. Burrows, Mr. Lollis’ pastor, read from Psalm 116: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Mr. Tim Langley, son of Don’s second wife, Mrs. Mary Lou Good Langley Lollis, and brother to Mr. Bobby Langley, said, “Don influenced my life over 30 years.” As the “yard boy” (lawn caretaker), Tim, who heard Don’s stories and laughter, knew Don was proud of his Michelin career and attributed his success to God and faithful tithing. Don told him, “Who would have thought a poor boy who grew up on a mill hill would end up with all these blessings? If you’d have told me that 50 years ago, I’d have told you you’as crazy.”      “Don didn’t just talk about his faith, he walked it,”...