Our Pastor

Pastor (Dr.) C. Wayne Bynum Jr. is a native of Fresno, California. On October 19, 2016, Bishop Samuel Doyle appointed him pastor of Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Bakersfield. He also serves the California Valley Jurisdiction as Episcopal Adjutant to the Bishop and as Chief of Staff.

Pastor Bynum was ordained and appointed to his first pastorate at the age of 14 by the late Bishop B. R. Stewart, and is noted as the youngest pastor in the Church of God in Christ in Northern California. Over a pastoral career of more than 35 years he has led congregations including Greater Ephesians COGIC, Cross Temple COGIC, New Birth Evangelistic Center and Word of Life COGIC, and he has carried the Gospel through evangelistic crusades.

A licensed mortician, Pastor Bynum earned an Associate of Arts from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service and a Bachelor of Arts from National University, followed by a Master’s in Theology and a Doctor of Divinity from Trinity Hall Seminary. He founded Citizens Funeral Service in Los Angeles, Bynum’s Pleasant Valley Mortuary in Avenal and Bynum’s Los Banos Mortuary in Los Banos.

Under his leadership Holy Temple holds to a simple conviction: Soul Business is our Sole Business.