The Full Gospel Tabernacle
was founded in Shreveport,
Louisiana, in August, 1937,
by Rev. Edith Mae
Pennington. The church
was organized at that time
under the jurisdiction of the
Assemblies of God
denomination. In 1943
the name of the church was
changed to the Full Gospel
Temple. In February, 1950,
the Full Gospel Temple became
independent of the Assemblies
of God and formed its own
inter-denominational
organization and corporation,
"The Plant of
Renown, Inc."
Rev. Edith Mae
Pennington founded
the church after several
years on the evangelistic
field. She pastored the
church from 1937 until her
death in 1974. Rev. Marvin W.
Patterson, Rev. Pennington's
brother, was associate pastor
of the church until his death
in 1963. Rev. Edith
Lorraine Pennington, daughter
of Rev. Edith Mae Pennington,
was named pastor of the
church in 1974 and is the
current pastor. Rev. John D.
Brock is associate pastor.
Rev. Gerry Woolman and Rev.
Lynn Woolman are youth
pastors of "The
Torchbearers". Rev.
Jacob Maynard and Rev. Rachel
Maynard are the
congregational leaders of
"Beth Shalom
Ministries".
Church services were held in
various rental locations for
the period of 1937-45.
In 1945, a church building
was erected on the corner of
Line Avenue and Pierremont
Road. Because of
commercial development at
this location, property was
purchased in 1985 and a new
church building was
erected. On March 1,
1987, the new church at 5606
Buncombe Road, Shreveport,
La., was dedicated. This is
now the current location of
the church.
The main "thrust"
of the Full Gospel Temple is
intercessory prayer. Its
"vision" is a
world-wide revival for the
last days. When the founder came to
Shreveport in 1936 to hold a
tent revival she had a vision
of a great tidal wave filled
with fire! God spoke to
her at this time that this
was the coming wave of his
visitation upon the city of
Shreveport. For many years
intercessory prayer has been
made to see the fulfillment
of this vision. Since the
initial vision was given, God
has expanded it from a
revival for the city, the
state, and the nation, to one
that is global in scope. The
Full Gospel Temple puts great
emphasis on intercessory
prayer and the fulfillment of
the "vision" God
has given.
