Raymond D. Burrows, Pastor -- He Tells His Story

Pastor Raymond D. Burrows (pictured above), of Faith Temple Church, Taylors, SC, lived, as a child, on a poor 39-acre farm, 12 miles from Kingstree (Williamsburg County), SC.  

He was the third of Theodore and Gertrude Burrows’ children, who, listed in birth order, include Brenda Allen, Judy Morris, Raymond, Richard, and Murray.   

The 2010 census lists Williamsburg’s population as 34,423. In the 2000 census Williamsburg was 66.26 percent Black, 32.74 White, and less than one percent “other.” In ninth grade, Pastor Burrows and his brothers were three of six white students in a Black school of 200-300. Pastor’s family attended Kingstree First Assembly of God (AG), the church his mother attended for 60 years.

Pastor began service station work at age 16. After high school, at 18, he worked at Union Carbide (Florence, SC). His father committed suicide in 1975 when Pastor was 19. 

Pastor met Miss Victoria Fitch when he was 17; she was 14. She, next to oldest, was one of eight children. Her father operated heavy equipment.

Pastor says. “Mr. Gerald Fitch, Victoria’s uncle, invited us to Olanta Christian Faith Church.” The dating couple accepted Christ that Sunday night, and he sensed a call to the ministry. They married and lived in Olanta when he was 19; she was 16. Their son, Tim, was born on Aug. 8, 1977.

“I worked eight years at Union Carbide, 1974-82,” Pastor says. “After getting laid off, I opened a service station, worked over five years (12-days, six days a week), and made enough to springboard to college.“In early 1988, I was feeling as if I was not doing what I was supposed to do. In April 1988, I said, ‘Lord if you’ll show me what I’m supposed to do, I’ll do it to the best of my ability.’”

In April 1988, unable to sell his business, he liquidated equipment, left SC on Aug. 2, and, with the family’s goods in a Ryder truck, moved them to Missouri on Aug., 3, 1988, to attend Central Bible College (AG).

“We arrived in Springfield and rented a house in Fair Grove, north of Springfield. Tim was 11 and in his first year in band. We bought him a $50 trumpet.” 

Pastor majored in Bible and Pastoral Ministries. “My idea was to teach, maybe in a college,” he says.

Pastor worked miscellaneous jobs during his first year, then part-time at Zenith Electronics Corp., about 16 hours weekly at $5 per hour, taking molded TV frames off a conveyor and putting them into boxes.    

He hired on in July 1989 with Mr. Jerry Anson, who dealt in new and used store items such as clothing racks, counters, slat walls, coat hangers, etc. — store equipment bought for redistribution.  

“We loaded and set up materials to be shown either in a store or in Mr. Anson’s shop,” Pastor said. “I worked 35-40 hours per week.

Mrs. Burrows worked as activities director for Maranatha Village, an AG nursing home.  

One of Pastor’s favorite college courses was “Acts,” taught by Ms. Opal Redmond. Ms. Joyce Wells Booze taught English.  

“She loved the language and saw it as the vehicle to reach people with the Gospel,” Pastor says. “About two years into college, in chapel one morning, I feel like the Lord implanted into my heart His calling for me as a pastor, though I did not go to college with that intention.” 

He graduated in spring, 1992, and obtained AG preaching credentials. He preached at Joanna AG (in SC) on Aug. 2. On Aug. 23, 1992, the church voted to call him as pastor. He spent three year and three months there.  

“I learned that, in the 1960s, I believe, Pastor James H. Thompson dedicated the Joanna AG church building,” Pastor says. “Brother Richard Adams, Pastor Thompson’s brother-in-law, had invited him to dedicate the building. I invited Brother Thompson, in Sept. 1994, to preach at the church’s homecoming. He became interested in me. Brother Richard Adams later came and asked if I had interest in relocating. At that time, I said no. In May 1995, Brother Jim Barbare came to hear me speak. On Thurs. night, Sept. 17, 1995, I preached at a service at Faith Temple.”

Pastor interviewed with the Faith Temple deacon board, the church voted on him on a Sunday while he was in Joanna, and Faith Temple called him as pastor. He gave at least four weeks notice to Joanna AG. His first Sunday as pastor at Faith Temple was Nov. 26, 1995.

“During my years here, I’ve met some of the finest people in the world, and they’ve had a positive impact on my life,” Pastor says. “Brother Thompson wouldn’t conduct a funeral service unless the family would include me. I found him most encouraging and a wonderful man. 

“A goal of ministry for me at Faith Temple is to see that whoever is here will feel valued, celebrated, and loved. I believe that represents the example we have in Christ.”