Statement of Introduction
Dr. George W. C. Lyons, Jr. is the Senior Pastor of the historic Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia. He is a native of Los Angeles, California and the only son of the late Rev. Dr. & Mrs. George W. C. (Delores) Lyons.
Dr. Lyons is a graduate of: the University of California- Los Angeles where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science; The Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. where he earned, with honors, the Master of Divinity degree; and the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio where he earned the Doctor of Ministry degree. He has completed additional studies in the Department of Religion as a Ford Foundation fellow at Princeton University.
In a ministry career that has spanned over 20 years, Dr. Lyons has served congregations in California, Washington D.C. and Tennessee.
Dr. Lyons is active in civic and religious affairs. He is a member of the Virginia Commonwealth University Emerging Nonprofit Leaders Class of 2010; a member of the Chesterfield Branch of the NAACP; the Petersburg Police Chief’s Advisory Council;
The Crater Regional Youth Taskforce; the Tri-Cities Alzheimer’s Advisory Council; and the Southside Community Partners of Virginia Advisory Council. Dr. Lyons has served as a volunteer police Chaplain for over 13 years having served law enforcement agencies in Tennessee and Virginia. Currently, he is a Volunteer Chaplain with the Colonial Heights (Virginia) Police Department and serves on an Advisory Committee of The Cameron Foundation.
Dr. Lyons is a member of the editorial staff of the National Baptist Voice, the official publication of the National Baptist Convention, USA. He is also a member of the Baptist General Convention of Virginia and the American Baptist Churches, USA. He is the Dean of the Bethany District Baptist Association. He is a member of the Virginia Council of Churches, the Richmond Baptist Minister’s Conference and the Petersburg Baptist Minister’s Conference where he serves as Dean.
Dr. Lyons has held positions of leadership on numerous boards and committees, which included: Leadership Knoxville, the Knox County Emergency Management Administration, the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Educational State Convention, the Knoxville YMCA, the Knox County No Senior Left Behind-Senior Steering Committee and the Outreach Council of the Alzheimer’s Association of East Tennessee, the Knoxville Police Advisory and Review Committee and was a member of the 2002 class of Leadership Knoxville. Dr. Lyons was also an instructor for the American Baptist College Extension Center in Knoxville for ten years.
Dr. Lyons and his wife LaCrechia are the parents of three daughters: Jessica, Maya and Angela. Most of all, Pastor Lyons is committed to carrying the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all.