About Us
Mission Statement and Core Values
Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church has been called to serve the community for GOD’s glory. We are committed to fulfilling GOD’s Kingdom mandate by, "Developing Dynamic Disciples through Discipleship, Discipline and Duplication.”
We are a church where everybody is somebody and Christ is all.
We are making HEAVEN bigger by taking the cities for JESUS, one life at a time.
Faith: Relationship with GOD [Mark 11:22]
Family: Relationship with Family [Proverbs 17:6]
Finance: Biblical Stewardship [Proverbs 3:9]
Fitness: Psychological/Physical Health [Romans 12:2/1 Timothy 4:8]
25 Years Of Service
Larry Lawrence Brandon’s Biography
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord...”Psalm 37:23
This clearly describes the life and ministry of Larry Lawrence Brandon. He serves as Senior Pastor and CEO of Praise Temple which is one of the most exciting congregations in the Shreveport-Bossier City area. Brandon serves as the Third Presiding Bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, International which is founded by his Pastor, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr., and led by Bishop J. Warren Walker. In the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, Brandon has served in many capacities, including Chairman of the organization's Tehillah Music Group. Brandon is a Life Member of the historic Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and serves as the organization as Deputy General Chaplain. Brandon is a highly motivated minister, mentor, counselor, speaker, radio personality, and spiritual father. He is also the founder/organizer of L.L. Brandon Ministries, Inc.
As a community leader and entrepreneur, Brandon served as the Chairman of the Shreveport Regional Airport Authority Board and resigned after being elected to the Louisiana State Ethics Board by the House of Representatives. He serves as a Chaplain to the Louisiana State Police and Public Safety Services, Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office, Bossier Parish District Attorney’s, Shreveport Fire Department, and the Shreveport City Marshals Office. Brandon also serves as a member of the Step Forward Children’s Education and Adult Prisoner’s Reentry Initiatives, the Rotary Club of Shreveport, and he actively serves on numerous boards, commissions, civic councils, and in many faith-based ministry endeavors. Brandon is the managing partner of the Brandon Group International, Center Director of the L.L. Brandon III. Transitional Home for Boys, and he serves as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Northwest Louisiana Community Development Corporation. Brandon is a certified Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Educator, and currently, he is enrolled in the Graduate School of Theology pursuing a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Church Ministries and Leadership at Oral Roberts University.
On July 17th, 2022, Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church presented Bishop Larry Lawrence Brandon as the third Pastor of the historic church. With Bishop Brandon’s teaching and preaching, he has inspired, informed, instructed, enthused, and convicted and changed the hearts of the people. Bishop Brandon is truly a visionary whose allowing the Spirit of God to take control and lead Evergreen and the community in the right direction. Furthermore, Bishop Brandon is the author of the groundbreaking books, From Private Pain to Public Victory, Treasures in the Darkness, Holiness Is Still Right, A Faith that Feels Like Lying, and You Complete Me.
You Complete Me is a bold and insightful look at the secrets of cultivating a godly marriage, which he co-authors with his wife, Wanda L. Brandon. Brandon is a well-loved pastor, teacher, community leader, mentor, and father. He has five children, Queenesia, Jasmine, Isaiah, Elijah, and the late Larry III. It is Brandon’s earnest prayer that every person he comes in contact with is blessed, challenged, inspire, and changed. His motto is “We are better together”.
Lady Wanda Brandon’s Biography
Wanda Brandon was born in Panama City, Florida. She was baptized at the First Baptist Church of Progressive Village in Tampa, Florida. She was reared in San Antonio, Texas at the New Mt. Rose Missionary Baptist Church under Dr. D. H. Hall. She is a proud graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. There she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management. Most of her life she has worked in nonprofit organizations. Previously she has worked at Southwest Research Institute in the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analysis. She has served as Chief Operations Officer for Praise Temple Ministries and Program Manager/Grant Writer for the Northwest Louisiana Community Development Corporation, Grant Writer for the Ben D. Johnson Educational Center. She is currently serving as Grant Specialist at the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center in Oakland, California. She is a Certified Grant Writer and member of the American Grant Writer’s Association. She is also a member of the Grant Professionals Association. On several occasions, she serves as a grant reviewer for AmeriCorps, the U. S. Department of Education, and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.
OUR HISTORY
1947 to 1959
In 1951 we began broadcasting on Radio Station KWBR (which later became known as KDIA) . The Golden Echoes would accompany Pastor Richard to the radio station each Sunday morning for the fifteen-minute broadcast.
In the late 1950’s Jerry White, one of Evergreen’s musicians and choir directors, wrote an original song, “Call Him By His Name” to be sung Sunday nights, specifically during the prayer portion of the broadcasts.
On Sunday, February 27, 1957, we moved to our present location at 408 West MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, California. This church building was purchased from the Church of the Latter-Day Saints for the sum of $97,000. The cornerstone was laid on February 15, 1959.
October 1984 to April 1985
Pastor J. L. Richard was called from labor to reward on October 27, 1984, after thirty-seven years of faithful, untiring, dedicated leadership and service.
Reverend Frank Pinkard, Jr. was called as Pastor on Tuesday, April 9, 1985. The title of his first sermon as Pastor was “Moving Into The Future With God.”
November 1988 to 2001
November 6, 1988, J. L. Richard Terrace, a Senior Citizen and Handicap Housing Complex consisting of 80 units for the aged and disabled, was dedicated.
In July 2000, Evergreen moved into its new $1.3 million sanctuary.
The Irene Cooper Annex of the J. L. Richard Terrace became a reality in 2001. This complex consisted of a 40-unit senior community to provide affordable housing to very low-income seniors aged 62 and over.
2008 to date
From 2008 to date, the ministries of Evergreen continue to minister to the needs of the community:
- — Annual Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Basket Giveaways
- — Annual Christmas Toy Drive
- — Annual Blanket Drive, “Blankets & Blessings.”
Evergreen has come this far by faith, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, under the dynamic leadership of our late Pastor and Organizer, Dr. J. L. Richard, and our late Pastor, Bishop Frank Pinkard, Jr. During our 75-year history, Evergreen has had only two pastors, both of whom during their tenure transitioned to be with the Lord.
Bishop L. Lawrence Brandon was elected as Evergreen’s third Pastor on July 31, 2022 blending Legacy, Leadership and Love.
