Leo Lawson Bio:
Dr. Leo Lawson has been a veteran 30-year campus missionary and church-planter on several college campuses in several states. He is the Director of The International Center for Evangelism, Church-planting, And Prayer (ICECAP) and The Institute of Campus Evangelism, Church-planting, And Prayer (ICECAP). He is also the President of The Association of Christian Educators and Administrators (ACEA) as well as The Association of Campus Evangelists in America (ACEA). He has served as the Founding Dean of the Graduate School of Campus Ministry (GSCM) as well as the Academic Dean of the Campus Harvest Academy of Student Evangelism (CHASE).
Dr. Leo Lawson married his bride, Pat, in 1982 who gave him three wonderful children: Joshua, Jeremy, and Julianne; who have given him two daughters-in-law and a grandson. Born in Louisville, Kentucky July 7, 1955, Leo graduated with his B.A. degree in Education from the University of Kentucky. He graduated from Fuller Graduate Schools in 2000 with his M.A. in Intercultural Studies and in 2010 with his Doctor in Intercultural Studies.
After 8 years of Catholic grade school, Leo later graduated from Doss High School as its Senior Class President. In the middle of his senior year, Leo began his relationship with the Lord at Auburndale Baptist Church. During his first year at the University of Kentucky, Leo joined Campus Crusade for Christ which injected an evangelistic foundation into his call to ministry. One and a half years later, Leo joined the Navigators which developed a passion for discipleship. While living at UK’s Baptist Student Union, Leo served as a Baptist youth minister for 1 ½ years at Maple Heights Baptist Church in Fairborn, OH. As the founder and president of the UK Christian Council, Leo finished his college career working with Maranatha Campus Ministries.
Upon gradation from UK, Leo began at Asbury Theological Seminary, but before finishing, he traveled across the US planting campus churches under the tutelage of a campus evangelist.
In 1981, Leo met Pat at Michigan State University where together they established Marantha Christian Fellowship, an on-campus Spirit-filled Evangelical church. This church of 150 had at one time, 35 staff members, 25 of which were campus missionaries who did Bible Discussions with as many as 1000 students in the dorms. Sending out 75 people to plant churches, forty-five of these people were in vocational ministry planting campus ministries and churches on several continents. During his 12 years in the pastorate, Leo became president of the Lansing Pastors Council and also chaplain of the Legislative Bible Study for the Michigan Legislature. Upon the purchase of their church building, the Mayor of Lansing came to dedicate the building as a community center to city. Leo also served as the Regional Director over six states and eastern Canada as a member of the Apostle/Prophet Team of Maranatha Christian Churches and Campus Ministries until 1989.
After 12 years in the pastorate, Leo and Pat were called to the mission field, first on campuses in England, and then onto Texas. In 1994 at the University of Houston, Leo and Pat first birthed a Victory Campus Ministry and eventually a church on the campus while assisting in campus ministries at the University of Texas, Rice University, and Texas A&M University. To-date over 30 campus missionaries have gone into vocation ministry from that campus.
Aware of their propensity to train campus missionaries, Leo was asked by Morning Star Ministries to move to Los Angeles in 1998 where he founded The Graduate School of Campus Ministry in colleague with Fuller Theological Seminary and Victory Campus Ministry. Over 500 have been trained as campus missionaries at this school, and the two other similar schools he founded: The Graduate School of Youth Ministry in Nashville, TN and The Graduate School of Campus Ministry which was developed in colleague with Stellenbosch University’s Department of Missiology.
As an International Educational Consultant with Every Nation Campus Ministry, in 2008 he helped establish The Campus Harvest Academy of Student Evangelism serving as its Academic Dean and Director of Program Development. Having completed his Doctor of Intercultural in 2010, he is now developing the International Center for Evangelism, Church-planting, And Prayer (ICECAP) near the University of Southern California campus as well as the Institute of Campus Evangelism, Church-planting, And Prayer (ICECAP). The Center and the Institute train campus missionaries as chaplains for church-based campus ministry and campus parallel-church planting (See his doctoral dissertation: Passion Church: The Parallel-Church Planting Of A Postmodern Campus Church (2010 Fuller Seminary).