Reverend James Allen Raines, Sr.

The Reverend James Allen Raines, Sr., 86, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

A memorial service to honor and celebrate his life will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 11:30 am at Centenary United Methodist Church, 2300 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, NC. The Reverend Caroline Raines Franks will officiate.  Burial will follow on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 2:00 pm at Westover Memorial Park in Augusta, GA.

Jimmy was a beloved and faithful husband, father and grandfather, affectionately called “Shah”, brother and son. He desired to be a friend to all. We knew him as the rock and anchor of our family with a kind and gentle soul, always smooth and steady. His peaceful and youthful demeanor radiated the light and love of God. He loved serving others, especially his family. His greatest desire was to love others to Jesus through a life well-lived. He was “All In.”  He loved generously and could make everyone feel at ease. Constantly attending the ballgames and events of grandchildren and hundreds of church children, Pastor Jim showed how much he cared for what was important to them. They greatly loved him back. They felt his deep love for them and his Lord. He loved preaching, playing golf and giving generously.  

At a 1948 Billy Graham crusade in Augusta, GA, he heard of Jesus’ great love for him and he trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior at age 12. He discovered a new passion in his life which would be his compass for every future decision. He knew he had a call on his life at a young age. He discovered that his golf swing was a gift from God that he would use for God’s glory. Being an outstanding athlete at The Academy of Richmond County in Augusta was not enough. At the tender age of 15, he gained the permission of the Caddie Master at The Augusta Country Club to share what he learned in Sunday School with the caddies on Saturdays before they began work. His humility of sharing the love of God with them impacted many for eternity. 

God gave him a larger platform when he won the 1953 International Jaycee Junior Amateur golf tournament in Ann Arbor, MI. He competed with thousands of young men worldwide to be able to play in the tournament, winning numerous state and regional golf titles along the way. He was invited to The White House, meeting then Vice-President Nixon as well as the current Miss America. With his title, he was invited to compete in a professional golf tournament in Bethesda, MD. At every opportunity, he gave glory to God and writers dubbed him the “Putting Parson.” Jimmy published a pamphlet sharing that God’s great love for the world surpassed any worldly honors. He committed himself to never boast about anything he did in the flesh, rather “to boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14, NIV)

His conviction to be a full-time minister of the Gospel overrode his potential to pursue golf as a profession. To prepare himself, he attended Asbury College. Later he transferred to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he did play two years of varsity golf, and was awarded a spot on the Wall of Fame. There he met his soulmate, the love of his life, Ina Belle. While in Knoxville, they studied the Bible together and were volunteer leaders for Young Life clubs, loving students for Christ. After graduating from UT, they married in 1957 and moved to Atlanta, where he attended and graduated from Chandler School of Theology at Emory University. 

Upon graduation, they moved to Greensboro where Jimmy worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship serving college campuses including NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Wake Forest throughout the southeast. He partnered with Paul Little to plan and run the first Beach Evangelism ministry outreach in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Jimmy had a love for relational evangelism and reaching young people wherever he was, even on spring break.

 Jimmy and Ina Belle continued their ministry by opening Logos Christian Bookstore near UNC-Greensboro, eventually moving to Friendly Shopping Center. Both were tirelessly engaged in raising their son and three daughters while serving in the local church and community. During this time their home was always open to others who needed help, counsel, and prayer. They both put Jesus first in everything they did.  

Jimmy lived out the gospel while serving in numerous Methodist churches over the decades - Trinity, Centenary, Farmington, Wesley Chapel, Mount Olive, Union Ridge, Bethany and Vickrey. Taking youth to serve in rural, economically challenged areas of the Appalachia, he taught vivacious teenagers how to be the hand and feet of Jesus in loving others. It was a thrill for him to see people in his churches learn to love to pray and experience God’s faithfulness and share this truth with one another. Discipling others to be mature followers of Jesus was his passion. It gave him great joy seeing others grow in their faith in Christ.

Membership in the Summit Rotary gave Jimmy another way to serve his community. Joining in 1967, he was a proud member known for giving inspirational invocations. They were thankful, eloquent and heartfelt.

What a legacy he left us of glorifying God always with wisdom and grace.  He ran the race well and taught us how to live well and love well. In life and in golf he finished well; man, could he putt! He is now part of the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on from glory where God is making everything new.

We greatly love and miss you Shah, but you remain in our hearts forever. We will see you again. We are so thankful for the way your life richly captured the beauty of God’s presence in the ordinary cadence of life.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edgar and Mary Raines; brother, Bill Raines; granddaughter, Juliana Melton Lagesse; and son-in-law, Duane Franks.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ina Belle Raines; son, Jim Raines, Jr.; daughter, Julie Melton (Billy); daughter, Belle Strader (Tom); daughter, Caroline Franks; grandchildren, Hayley Raines, Jessica Melton Shelton (Holden), Austin Raines, Manning Franks, Farrelle Franks, Raines Strader and Grace Strader; grand-son-in-law, Brian Lagesse (Kate); Beth Raines, mother of Hayley and Austin, as well as numerous other family members and friends whom he loved.

The memorial service will be on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 11:30 am. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 10:00-11:00 am in the parlor at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Reverend James A. Raines, Sr.  Memorial Fund (1852 Banking Street #9621 Greensboro, NC 27408) where the family will distribute the funds to Jimmy and Ina Belle’s favorite ministries.

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