Dr. L. Lavon Gray
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Dr. L. Lavon Gray (B.S., M.C.M., Ph.D.), serves as Associate Dean for the School of Music at Liberty University. As part of this role, he serves as chairman of the Worship Studies Department and leads the Center for Music and Worship, which is the largest worship training program in the world. Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr., Liberty University prepares Christian leaders to influence their world. With over 72,000 undergraduate and graduate students, Liberty is America's 7th largest four-year university. LLG brings to Liberty University over 30 years of local church experience in worship ministry serving churches of all sizes.
Prior to joining the faculty at Liberty, LLG served as Associate Pastor for Music and Worship at the historic First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi, leading one of the premier music ministries in the United States. As part of his leadership role at First Baptist Jackson, Gray directed the 350-voice sanctuary choir and gave oversight to a ministry with over 1,300 members of all ages. In addition, he served on the senior leadership team, providing vision and day-to-day administration to one of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention with a membership of over seven-thousand.
Under Lavon's direction, the award-winning sanctuary choir performed with such nationally known artists as Gary Morris, Mark Harris, Charles Billingsley, Keith and Kristin Getty, Steve Amerson, and The Gaither Vocal Band. The choir was featured on the recording, Then Sings My Soul, along with the Grammy award-winning Mississippi Mass Choir. In addition, during his tenure at First Baptist Jackson, the church hosted such nationally known recording artists as Casting Crowns, David Phelps, Ernie Hass and Signature Sound, Point of Grace, Avalon, Mark Schultz, Michael W. Smith and the David Crowder Band.
LLG has contributed numerous articles and opinion features to publications such as The Baptist Record, The Church Musician and The Southern Baptist Church Music Journal, and has written two books: An Audience of One and Sharing the Song of Jesus: A Fifty Year History of the Church Music Department of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
He and his wife, Wendy, live in Lynchburg, Virginia with their three daughters: Kayla (1990), Lizzie (1993), and Katibeth (2007).