Meet Jamie Taylor, Director of Thrift Store Operations

God calls us to use the gifts we've been given to serve others and to be faithful stewards of His grace. Since accepting Jesus as his Savior, Jamie Taylor, director of FCM thrift store operations, has had a desire to follow this command.

Jamie remembers giving his life to Christ in 1992. He had grown up going to church with his family, but as he got older, he had stopped attending. He realized his need for community and a relationship with Christ after experiencing death in his family. Within three months, four of his family members had passed away.

Jamie told his wife, Melissa, that it was time for them to find a church family. She agreed and they began attending Trinity Baptist Church in Roanoke where they were exposed to the gospel and began growing in their spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ.

“In April of 1992, I gave my life to Christ, and approximately three years after that, I accepted a call into ministry and became a pastor,” Jamie said. “God cleaned me up and prepared me for the call.”

Jamie was nervous at the time and said he could think of a lot of other people that would be better at it than he would. Nevertheless, he was obedient. God called Jamie to begin preaching in 1995, and by 1999, he became the bi-vocational pastor at Paran Missionary Baptist Church in Roanoke where he still serves today. 

Eventually, Jamie started hearing stories from others about Four Corners Ministries. Gary Clark, a former volunteer who oversaw the ministry’s thrift stores, met with Jamie one day to discuss the expansion of the Roanoke store, and Jamie was hired to help with the remodel. At that time, Jamie said he realized how many people came in the store and how much the thrift store impacted the lives of the people in the community. Gary encouraged Jamie to meet with Yancy Carpenter, the president of FCM, to talk about joining the ministry.

“We met, talked, and prayed, and it was already a given to me,” Jamie said.

He joined the ministry in 2020 and was promoted to director of thrift store operations where he continues to oversee the thrift stores in Roanoke, Talladega, and Valley, Alabama. Prior to Four Corners, Jamie worked with Roanoke City Schools as the maintenance and transportation supervisor for 29 years.

“Since I have been employed with Four Corners Ministries, I have been able to use the gifts that God has given me in a ministry,” Jamie said. “I have a desire to use the gifts the Lord has given me to serve others and help the stores prosper, so we can continue to reach every tribe, restoring life and empowering people with the gospel of Christ.”

Jamie said he’s thankful for the opportunity to serve the community of Roanoke where he was born and raised as well as serve Talladega, Valley, and surrounding communities.

After the expansion of the Roanoke thrift store, Four Corners had the opportunity to open a third store in Valley, Alabama. Valley Baptist Church reached out to FCM about the available space next to their church building and asked if the ministry would be interested in opening a store there. Yancy and the board approved of the idea and decided to start remodeling the space to accommodate the thrift store.

When Jamie went to Valley to start remodeling, the slogan on a sign at the entrance to the city stuck out to him. It said, “Welcome to Valley, Alabama, where people care and share.” 

Jamie said the sign proved to be accurate. People were excited for the thrift store to open and FCM began receiving donations before the building was finished. “That shows they have a heart of caring and they want to share,” he said. “They find ways to give to this ministry.”

The Valley thrift store had a soft opening in November 2021 and held a grand opening in January 2022.

“I have been blessed to be part of Four Corners Ministries, to be able to serve, and to not only see the impact in Uganda but also to see the impact here,” Jamie said.

In 2022, he had the opportunity to travel to Abaana’s Hope in Uganda and see firsthand what God is doing through Four Corners Ministries there. On the mission trip, he got to witness the graduation ceremony for 37 students who completed the Pastor Training Center program. The PTC program is a three-year, non-formal, certificate training program designed to educate and equip young, aspiring pastors to plant churches and strengthen existing churches. Jamie said it was encouraging to see the pastors graduate, to see their excitement, and to see them celebrating the achievement with their families. 

“That allowed me to see just a small part of all that Four Corners does,” he said. “That part has such an impact on me, that I wanted to continue to help Four Corners Ministries prosper from Abaana’s Hope to our local communities.”