Ruben Nance was born July 2, 1941 in Ripley, Mississippi, the eighth of nine children, to Kerry Mac Bolden Nance and Kitty Turner Nance.   He first came to Florida on a senior trip and later returned to work in Winter Haven at a Publix supermarket.  A friend invited him to attend church one Sunday at Central Baptist Church where he realized his need for salvation and accepted Christ as his personal Saviour.  He soon thereafter met and married his wife Paulette Waters and moved to Springfield, Missouri to attend Baptist Bible College.  He graduated BBC in 1965.  Pastor Nance served in churches in Louisiana and Mississippi before moving back to Haines City, Florida to serve at Landmark Baptist Church.  He assisted Pastor Mickey Carter in starting the church and Landmark Christian School. 

In 1974, God placed a burden in Pastor Nance’s heart to plant a church in Brandon, Florida.  They made the move to Brandon with a 1957 church bus and their four children, Kevin, Karen, Kerry, and Kandi.  They planted the Grace Baptist Temple by meeting in the upstairs of the Sunshine State Federal Savings in Thursday evenings.  Soon they began to meet at the Civic Center on Sadie Street, trading rent for cleaning the facilities.  Eventually they were able to purchase a few acres on John Moore Road.  They built their first auditorium in 1981.  In 1983, the church caught on fire and the roof was severely damaged.  Also in 1983, they purchased the two houses at the front of the property and began the Temple Christian Daycare and Christian Academy.  In 2002 they built their second auditorium which has a capacity of 250.

In August 2009 Pastor Tommy Thompson came on staff as Co-Pastor to Pastor Nance.  In June 2010 Pastor Nance retired and the church called Pastor Thompson to serve as Senior Pastor.