 Reverend Tonya N. Lawrence
Associate Pastor
A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Rev. Tonya N. Lawrence received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC. She also holds a degree in Fashion Buying and Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY. In May 2010, Rev. Lawrence received dual Master’s degrees in Divinity and Youth Ministry with a concentration in Women’s Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ.
Rev. Lawrence has been involved in the lives of many teenagers over the years. She believes very strongly in youth development as the impetus for long-term social change and as such she also believes that it is the responsibility of the entire community to ensure that our youth are positioned for the brightest future possible. She recently lived in Ghana, West Africa where she studied rites of passage for young girls.
Rev. Lawrence has faithfully served the United Methodist Church (UMC) at the charge, annual and general conference levels as preacher, leader, and consultant. Currently, she is serving on the Design Team for Youth 2011, the quadrennial international youth event for the UMC. She has previously served as a Youth Pastor at Cascade UMC, Atlanta, GA, as a member of the Conference Council on Youth Ministry for the North Georgia Annual Conference of the UMC and as a preacher and workshop facilitator for several conference wide events. In addition, Ms. Lawrence has served the community as chair for the S.C.L.C., W.O.M.E.N., Inc.’s “Bridging the Gap” mentoring program for girls and as a board member for Communities in Schools of Marietta/Cobb County.
Rev. Lawrence’s passion for ministry has been widely recognized and rewarded. She is Princeton Theological Seminary’s (PTSem) 2010 recipient of the Robert K. Kelley Award for great promise in ministry with youth and PTSem’s 2009 recipient of the Raymond Lindquist Fellowship for outstanding gifts in the area of parish ministry. She has also been named a Georgia Harkness Scholar for excellence in academics and social issues by the General Board of Higher Education Ministry of the United Methodist Church for the both the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years.
Rev. Lawrence was a contributor to “Five Practices of Fruitful Youth Ministry” by Robert Schnase and has published A Supplemental Perspective on Young African American Females for “OMG: A Youth Ministry Handbook” by Kenda Dean. She is currently working on “Firm Footing: Souls of Strength for Young African American Girls.”
Rev. Lawrence is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is an avid swimmer and also enjoys reading in her personal time. |