Rev. Raymond Hampton

At a recent Annual Conference, our current Pastor was assigned to us for another Church Conference year. We welcome back our pastor and his wife, Rev. and Mrs. Raymond Hampton to Usher's Temple.

Reverend Raymond Fitzgerald Hampton, II was born December 21, 1969 in Tupelo, Mississippi - the first child of Raymond Hampton and Esther D. Owens-Hampton. He is married to Mrs. Kimberly D. Hampton and together they have four children-twin adult sons, Martavious & Cortavious Hampton, one teenage son, Derek Flournoy, and one daughter Serenity Lewis.

At twelve years of age he professed hope in Christ at the Poplar Springs Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Shannon, MS. He was educated in the Lee County Public School System and graduated from Shannon High School in Shannon, MS in 1987. He is a 1992 graduate of Southern Technical College graduating with honors as a Medical Assistant. After matriculating through several institutions, namely, Itawamba Community College, Fulton, MS; Mary Holmes College, West Point, MS; Jackson State University, Jackson, MS; he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Rust College in 2003. In 2005, he was certified as a Behavioral Health Counselor through Lakeside Behavioral Health System in Memphis, Tennessee and was employed by contract with the Desoto County School System, until 2012. In 2013, he graduated from Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, TN earning a Master’s of Divinity degree.

The ministry of Rev. Hampton began in the Fourth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at the Poplar Springs CME Church on October 20, 1996, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. James T. Stewart, using the scriptural reference of Matthew 4:1-11, "The Temptation of Jesus." The sermon, "I Am Delivered," was a message proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Savior who can deliver anyone from anything and that because of Jesus "One Can Make It."

He received his license to preach on November 9, 1997 from Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick, who currently serves as the Senior Bishop of the College of Bishops for the CME Church. In 2004, under the leadership of Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt Jr., he was ordained a Traveling Deacon and assigned to Jones Chapel CME Church in Iuka, MS. In 2005, he was elected and received Traveling Elder orders. In 2006, he was admitted into the Full Connection and appointed to Hurts Chapel CME Church (Olive Branch, MS) in the 17th Session of the Northeast Mississippi Regional Conference by Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr. During the 142nd session of the Louisiana Region Annual Conference, he was appointed the pastor of Mt. Zion CME Church in Minden, Louisiana in 2012. He pastored there for six years, making his tenure one of the longest terms in the church’s 148 year history. During his tenure he served in many capacities including being the Regional Director of the Young Adults for the Louisiana Region and Director of the Board of Christian Education for the Minden District. Rev. Hampton left a great impact on the Mt. Zion CME Church by being tremendously active in all of the church’s auxiliaries, especially the Youth & Young Adult Ministry and the Men’s Ministry, which works in junction with its renowned Male Chorus (better known as the Mt. Zion Travelers). Under his pastorate, the Male Chorus produced their first album entitled Journey, which consists of all original compositions. After the 148th Session of the LA Region Annual Conference, in July 2018, under the leadership of Bishop C. James King, Jr., his next assignment would lead him to Fort Valley, Georgia to become the pastor of Usher's Temple CME Church.

Although Pastor Hampton has been employed in fields of business management, medicine, and behavioral science, he feels that his greatest achievement has been answering the call to preach and pastor. His ministry has afforded him opportunity to travel, lecture, preach and teach in a variety of venues. He was elected as a delegate to the General Conference of the C.M.E. Church in 2006, 2010 and 2014. In 2010, he was selected to preach at the closing session of the 37th General Conference of the CME Church in Mobile, Alabama. His subject, "An Essential Church Poised for 21st Century Ministry," was the quadrennial theme given by Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr. In March 2010, Rev. Hampton represented the Fourth Episcopal District and the CME Church at the World Council of Churches. He served the church in several capacities: Co-Chair of the Board of Evangelism for the Minden District, the Ministerial Examination Committee of the Louisiana Region Annual Conference and the Communication and Information Technology Connectional Department at the Connectional level of the CME Church. He was also a 2014 delegate to the 100th Anniversary of the Hampton Ministers Conference at Hampton University.

Through prayer, praise and worship Rev. Hampton aspires to continue educating himself to fulfill his call to Christian ministry.