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Baccalaureate

Class of 2023, get ready for your day!

May 12, 2023

6 p.m.

Lawless Memorial Chapel

Enjoy this video from the 2022 Baccalaureate

SPEAKER | PASTOR OLU BROWN

Olujimi “Olu” W. Brown has served as the lead pastor of Impact Church, a young congregation in the East Point community of Metropolitan Atlanta (impactdcd.org). With Pastor Brown’s vision and leadership, since its founding in 2007, Impact has grown from a core team of 25 people to more than 5,000 online viewers with a $4 million budget, making it one of the fastest growing United Methodist Churches (UMC) and new church starts in the United States. To that end, Impact was listed at number 5 in 25 Fastest Growing Large United Methodist Churches, 2018 Edition.

Pastor Brown strongly believes in an active church, one that makes a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals and communities. Impact is a multicultural community committed to Doing Church Differently™. Impact DCD redefines the church experience through inclusiveness, relatable messages, energetic weekly gatherings, unique events and activities, relevant youth programs and community outreach. The people of Impact are compelled to help bring healing, justice and compassion to the world.

On May 16, 2021, Pastor Brown announced his retirement from the local church effective June 2022. For his retirement, Pastor Brown is using the phrase, Normalizing Next™, which is the concept about how to best prepare for the future, especially churches that experience any kind of change or transition. Normalizing Next™ is when you are no longer afraid to do your best to prepare for and strategize so that one can be fully successful. Pastor Brown is looking forward to 2022, as he begins a new season, transitioning from Impact where he will coach business leaders, church leaders and church teams.

Pastor Brown is a native of Lufkin, Texas. He graduated from Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Gammon Theological Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.