CHANGE OF PLANS

Lawrence Temple, Jr. has spent much of his life telling people not to leave their gifts unused. He has a phrase for it: “The thing I hate the most is wasted potential.” It fits the teacher, pastor, musician, father, mentor—and the man who, after more than three decades in education, returned to Mainland High School, where he once served as band captain.

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Daytona Beach has always been part of his story. Born there in 1967, Lawrence grew up near the Daytona Mall, Daytona Beach Community College, now Daytona State College, and the old Memorial Stadium. His parents filled his life with education and creativity. His father taught art at Turie T. Small Elementary and Longstreet Elementary. His mother taught music and humanities at Bethune-Cookman College. They encouraged him to explore, see more, and never make his world smaller than it had to be.

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At St. Paul’s Catholic School and later in area public schools, Lawrence gathered experiences that stayed with him. Music became one of them. He played in band through junior high and high school and eventually became band captain at Mainland. Leadership arrived before he had a title, pulpit, or office.

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Teaching, however, was never the plan.

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The examples of his parents and teachers remained. Somewhere along the way, what they modeled became his work. Lawrence would spend 36 years in education as both teacher and administrator. In 2026, he entered his second year teaching social studies at Mainland High School.

He once walked those halls as a student figuring out what he could become. Now he stands before young people doing the same.

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His message is rarely complicated: try.

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Lawrence believes people often close doors on themselves too quickly. They decide something is not for them, that they do not belong somewhere, or that they are not capable enough to begin. He pushes against that instinct. In classrooms, ministry, and conversations with younger people, he encourages people to use what they have and look for opportunities to stretch.

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His own life reflects that belief. Lawrence has never seemed interested in becoming only one thing. He teaches. He pastors Life Community Church in Ormond. He plays instruments, writes songs, creates raps for students, enjoys photography and drawing, loves sports, reads, DJs, and is growing a DJ business. He likes being near the water when Florida heat allows it. He is also, by his own admission, a Star Wars super nerd.

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Curiosity, for Lawrence, is not something childhood left behind. Neither is connection.

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Lawrence enjoys bringing people together when he believes both may benefit. That instinct reaches into mentoring, ministry, and relationships with former students and their families. Years after they leave his classroom, he still encourages them—and says they continue to bless his life too.

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In 2026, Life Community Church founded the Life Center, a community nonprofit focused on family, employment, education, and wellness training. His From There to Here Podcast gives him another way to encourage people by sharing guests’ personal and professional journeys.

Lawrence’s outlook was tested deeply in 2004 and 2005, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and died about a year later. Her illness came during a season already crowded with job changes and other life events.

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He could not plan his way around the loss.

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What he learned instead was to live closer to the day in front of him. He became less interested in staring too far down the road and more aware of what could be done now.

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Faith became part of how he carried that lesson. As Senior Pastor of Life Community Church, Lawrence speaks openly about Christianity, but his measure of faith is practical. He tries to “look like” what he reads and preaches on Sundays, including when he is nowhere near church.

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His greatest measure of success is just as personal. In August 2026, Lawrence and his wife celebrated 36 years of marriage. Together they raised three adult children. He hesitates to call that something he is proud of. “Grateful,” he says, feels closer. Faith has helped them through difficult seasons, along with something less solemn and equally useful: a generous sense of humor.

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Lawrence also thinks about Civil Rights leaders and African American forerunners who faced barriers so later generations could enter spaces once closed to them. To him, opportunity carries responsibility. Look through open doors. Meet people outside familiar circles. Travel. Learn. Do not reject a possibility simply because it feels unfamiliar.

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There is still unfinished business. Lawrence wants to keep contributing to public education, expand the work of his church and nonprofit, travel more, exercise—and finally get his jump shot to fall.

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If Lawrence Temple, Jr. could leave one word behind, it would not be “achieve,” “win,” or “succeed.”

It would be “try.”

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For him, that is where possibility begins.