Reverend Dr. Thurmond Bowens, Jr., was born in Springfield, South Carolina to Jannett Robinson Bowens and the late Thurmond Bowens, Sr. In 1988, he married the former Barbara Murcier of McCormick, SC. They are the proud parents of two children, Thurmond Whitfield Bowens, III, and Lauren Murcier Bowens..

Dr. Bowens received his academic education in the public schools of Orangeburg County. He graduated from Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High School in 1982. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from South Carolina State University in 1993 and his Master of Divinity degree from Erskine Theological Seminary, Due West, South Carolina in 2006. Dr. Bowens’ dissertation was accepted in August 2016, and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Erskine Theological Seminary was conferred in January 2017.

Dr. Bowens’ spiritual foundation was laid and nurtured at the Samaria Baptist Church, Springfield, SC, under the leadership of the Rev. Monroe Bush, Jr. He was ordained as a deacon of Samaria Baptist Church in 1989, where he served faithfully. He later continued to serve as a deacon at the Brookland Baptist Church under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Charles B. Jackson, Sr.

In 1992, Dr. Bowens answered God’s call to preach the Gospel. He was licensed to preach the gospel in October 1994 by the Brookland Baptist Church and ordained by the Gethsemane Association in June 1996. In 1997, Dr. Bowens was called to pastor the Trinity Baptist Church in Columbia, SC. Under his leadership, the Lord has blessed Trinity’s many ministries and its’ community outreach programs.  

Dr. Bowens has been blessed to receive the Key to the City of Columbia, a proclamation from the House of Representatives, an award from the National Council of Negro Women, and the Bruce G. Pierce Award in Christian Leadership from Erskine Seminary as well as other awards for his achievements in Christian leadership and community services.            

Dr. Bowens’ firm belief is “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  His personal motto is found in Proverbs 3:5:  “Lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”