Fall Convocations will feature guests with powerful stories of courageous faith

From a missionary pilot captured in Africa to Olympic gold medalists and popular YouTubers, this fall’s Convocation guests will encourage and inspire Liberty University students to grow in their faith and live with purpose.

The schedule kicks off on Aug. 26 with a morning of worship led by Dwan Hill, founder of The Choir Room, a communal worship movement and live music collective.

Some current and former athletes will visit Liberty to share how their faith has influenced them on and off the field of play: Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson East and her husband, former NFL long snapper Andrew East (9/2), and Olympic gold medal-winning track athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (12/2).

Popular names from entertainment are also interspersed throughout the semester, including Grammy winners for King & Country (10/14), “Love on the Spectrum” TV personality Tanner Smith (9/16), and “Good Luck Charlie” actress Leigh-Allyn Baker (9/18).

Multiple well-known pastors will be opening the Word this fall, including Ben Stuart (8/28), Rich Wilkerson Jr. (9/23), David Platt (9/30), Gary Hamrick (11/4), and Josh Howerton (11/20).

The Convocation schedule was announced during Friday morning’s New Student Convocation. Every school year, the Office of Spiritual Development works to create a diverse lineup of guests to share testimonies of God’s mighty work in their lives and lend advice to students on remaining a Christian witness throughout their careers.

“Going all the way back to Day 1 at this institution, it has always been part of what we do in fulfilling our mission of Training Champions for Christ that we come together as a student body and we have different guests that come from all different spheres of society who will talk about their lives and what they’ve done,” Chancellor Jonathan Falwell told the new students. “The vast majority of them are believers who are serving in incredible ways in lots of different places as followers of Christ, fulfilling the call of God on their lives. But the ultimate philosophy is simply this: if our mission is to Train Champions for Christ, every person who steps on this stage is here to speak to our students to actually help us accomplish that mission. That means that occasionally there will be someone who might be outside of our basic belief, but the reason they’re here is to bring something to the table that will help to equip our young people to live out their faith. We hear from these individuals who have reached the pinnacle of their careers … but they’ve never compromised their faith in doing it, and that’s ultimately what this Convocation stage is all about.”

Convocation is held every Wednesday and Friday at 10:30 a.m. in the Vines Center and is open to the entire student body.

The Office of Spiritual Development also holds Campus Community, a Bible-centered worship service and discipleship program, every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Vines Center. The fall semester series, titled “What Would Jesus Do?” will be based on Hebrews 2:17. Students will explore the life of Jesus and study His own example of the model for what it looks like to live each of our own lives as the saved people of God.

Most of the Convocations and Campus Community services will be streamed live on Liberty’s YouTube channel, Liberty’s main Facebook page, and the Office of Spiritual Development Facebook page.

FALL 2026

*Dates and speakers are subject to change; for updates, visit the Office of Spiritual Development webpage.

8/26 — Dwan Hill of The Choir Room, a communal worship collective

8/28 — Ben Stuart, pastor of Passion City Church, Washington, D.C.

9/2 — Shawn Johnson East, Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, with husband Andrew East, former NFL long snapper; best-selling authors

9/4 — Justin Whitmel Earley and Brook Mosser, co-hosts of “The Intentional Fatherhood Podcast”

9/9 — Chris Norton, motivational speaker

9/11 — Lt. Gen. Richard E. “Tex” Brown III, acting Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force

9/16 — Tanner Smith, television personality, “Love on the Spectrum”

9/18 — Leigh-Allyn Baker, actress, “Good Luck Charlie” (College For a Weekend Convocation)

9/23 — Rich Wilkerson Jr., pastor of Vous Church in Miami

9/25 — Bryce Crawford, Christian content creator

9/30 — David Platt, lead pastor of McLean Bible Church, Washington, D.C. (Global Focus Week Convocation)

10/2 — Jim Streit, missionary pilot whose plane was hijacked over Africa while flying for Samaritan’s Purse in 2025 (Global Focus Week Convocation)

10/7 — Eric Metaxas, author, host of “The Eric Metaxas Show” (in conjunction with the 2026 CEO Summit)

10/9 — James Dumoulin, content creator, “The School of Hard Knockz” social media platforms and YouTube channel (in conjunction with the 2026 CEO Summit)

10/14 — for King & Country, Christian pop music duo

10/21 — Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee

10/23 — Erika Kirk, chairwoman and CEO of Turning Point USA

10/28 — Ruslan KD, speaker, YouTuber, author, artist

10/30 — Hymnology Convo, a time to honor and celebrate the music tradition by singing some of the most treasured hymns in church history

11/4 — Gary Hamrick, senior pastor of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Va.

11/6 — TBA (College For a Weekend Convocation)

11/11 — Megan Fate Erickson, Christian author, speaker, director of Women’s Ministries at Hume Lake Christian Camp

11/13 — American Sign Language Panel with Hayden Daum (’20), creator of “Holy Hands” social media ministry; Brandon Gaskin, founder and executive director of Deaf Millennial Project; Janet West, content creator, @deafmotherhood

11/18 — Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 47th Governor of Arkansas

11/20 — Josh Howerton, senior pastor of Lakepointe Church, Dallas

12/2 — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Olympic track & field gold medalist

12/4 — Ally Yost, content creator, host of “Christ With Coffee On Ice”

12/9 — Advent Convo, celebrating God’s fulfillment of His promise to deliver a Savior, leading into the Christmas season