Our Pastor

Bishop Lawrence Marcellus Wooten is a native of St. Louis and an alumnus of Saint Louis University. Before entering full-time ministry, he served as an educator and administrator in St. Louis public schools for three decades.

Installed as Pastor of Williams Temple Church of God in Christ in 1979, Bishop Wooten has led the congregation through remarkable growth. The church complex is now valued at over $5 million and supports approximately 50 community ministries — including rehabilitation programs, GED education, housing assistance, and counseling services.

In 2000, he was appointed Bishop of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Eastern Missouri Western Illinois. He was elected to the General Board of the Church of God in Christ in 2012 — representing 6.5 million members worldwide — and was reelected in 2012 and 2021.

Beyond the pulpit, Bishop Wooten has served as President of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri, a member of the St. Louis Black Caucus, and Chaplain of the St. Louis Police Department (7th District). Appointed to the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners in 2014, he has also founded two charter schools in the St. Louis area.

With over 60 years of church service — beginning at age 15 — Bishop Wooten is married to International Evangelist Shirley A. Wooten, the church's First Lady. Together they are parents of six children, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. They have also adopted two orphan daughters from Uganda.