Rev. Lester J. Drayton, Jr. is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and pastor of Williams AME Church in Lexington, South Carolina.
He was born August 11, 1971 in New York City to Elder Lester J. Drayton, Sr. and Evangelist Harriet Drayton. He lived in New York City for eight years before relocating to Georgetown, South Carolina with six brothers and two sisters. He attended public schools in Georgetown County and graduated from Georgetown High School in 1989. He then served three years in the United States Marine Corps and fought in the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Religion from Allen University in 2004, graduating summa cum laude. In August 2009, he received his Master of Divinity degree from Columbia International University.
He attended church all his life and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior at the age of nine. He served in the music ministry under his father, who was also his pastor. His gift in music has afforded wonderful opportunities to work with J. Dibbs, a multi-talented music producer, and with such national recording artists as Aaliyah, Kenny Lattimore, Keith Washington, and his favorite Gospel group, The Winans. His personal relationship with God carried him through those years. While he was recording with The Winans, the Lord redirected him to prepare for his call to the ordained ministry.
Prior to receiving his pastoral appointment, Rev. Drayton served as an associate minister at Bethel AME Church in Columbia, South Carolina; under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Ronnie E. Brailsford, Sr. He was the Minister of Media, which oversees two weekly television broadcasts and a weekly radio broadcast. He was also involved in the prison ministry at the SC Dept. of Juvenile Justice and the SC Dept. of Mental Health, and a teacher of the Adult Sunday School Class.
Rev. Drayton serves the community through his work with the Comprehensive Health Education Board Advisory Committee for School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties, as well as his collaboration with Lexington Interfaith Community Services and the Lexington County Ministerial Alliance.
As a pastor, Rev. Drayton is one who fears God and loves His people. He teaches with passion, preaches with power, and loves to worship; yet he maintains a spirit of humility. He refers to himself as an “addict to the word of God” because his life is so dependent on it. He summarizes his life with Galatians 2:20, which states, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
Rev. Drayton is married to Mrs. Sonia Drayton, a wonderful accompaniment in the ministry and is equally capable of delivering the word with power. They have been married for over 13 years and have four children; Samantha, Traci, Jasmine, and Lester III.