History of Faith Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church

A Church with a Mission
The First Years
1996-2005
2006 - Present

A Church with a Mission:

‘Go yea therefore and teach all nations’ was the mission of Evangelist Oscar Lane in the summer of 1985 when he canvassed the Lancaster-Kiest area of Dallas in search of souls for the Kingdom.  There he found a multitude of people who wanted to hear the Word of our Lord. With 100 new believers and 100 re-baptized members, on November 30, 1985, Jack A Morris became the interim pastor for the newly formed Faith Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church. Head elder, Donald Arnette, stated that “despite the poor conditions” of the Lancaster-Kiest Shopping Center where services were held, “people came without form or fashion to worship God.”

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The First Years:

On February 1, 1986, T. S. Bryant became the first assigned pastor to lead this newly organized congregation in God’s service. That spring a crusade was conducted and additional souls were added to the membership. In February 1987, while using the facilities of New Aldersgate United Methodist Church, our ministries became more established and functional. Faith Temple stayed true to its mission of spreading the Gospel and reaching souls with prison ministry and other community service activities.  Membership grew to 267 by the end of the year.     

In May of 1988, Faith Temple purchased the church that we now call home at 825 W Pentagon. Parkway. With the acquisition of the new church came steady progress.  Psychologist K.S. Wiggins, bible instructor Verdia Tucker, and other members conducted various seminars that  increased the membership to over 550 by the end of 1991.

In August of 1994, William T. Cox became the second pastor of Faith Temple. Pastor Cox believed in ministering to the whole person and was instrumental in the development of Project Hope, divorce recovery seminars, grief counseling and the Police Appreciation Day. The Prison Ministry was in full swing during his administration.  During this time, Leroy Green and French Tryon baptized 28 incarcerated women.  

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1996-2005

In September of 1996, Faith Temple received a spiritual shot in the arm when Elder A.L. Dyson   was assigned to pastor our church family. “Praise!” quickly became the theme of his ministry. His early introduction of a second morning worship service, a sacred concert series, and a summer evangelistic meeting led to 49 souls giving their life to Christ.

In an effort to continue to reach the community, the Church Officers introduced several programs such as “Feed a Cop” and “Friends and Family Day.”  Then suddenly on September 11, 2001, terrorist attacked the nation.  A religious awakening occurred all over the USA.  Faith Temple responded by ministering to many new believers and comforting disillusioned members who returned to their “first love.”

In the summer of 2005 Pastor Rogers Johnson, a no-none sense servant of God, with a loving approach to ministry and church administration, took the helm. During his pastorship, he inspired the church to begin the renovation of its facilities and to re-organize numerous programs. His endeavors lead to Dr. Katie Arnette becoming the first woman elder, the resurrection of the church newsletter, Faith Alive II, and the children and youth ministries, especially the Pathfinders, becoming more active. God was truly preparing his people to meet our next challenge of inner-city ministry and preparation of the community for Christ’s imminent return.

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2006- Present

 In October 2006, our current pastor, James Cox, Jr., was assigned to Faith Temple.  Pastor Cox was already heavily involved in a television ministry in the Fort Worth area and has continued to  expand on this concept in the Dallas area.  To accommodate this new ministry and remain viable in the 21st Century, the church has gone through a very extensive technology and facilities renovation.  Not only did the church interior need a new design for this ministry, but the members have also been trained to reach the world in this Internet Age.

Through Pastor Cox’s leadership, the church now has a state of the art media center for webcasting our services throughout the world.  Under the leadership of our Church Ministry Director, Luevenia Richardson, classes have been given in identifying our God-given gifts and how to best use them.  Members have also been trained on how to overcome the things in our lives that keep us in spiritual bondage.

The poem “Foot Prints In the Sand” states that the Lord is with us especially in good times and in difficult situations. We at Faith Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church have certainly experienced the truth of that statement.  We know it’s God who holds and protects us. We thank him for these blessings!

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