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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (March 25, 2008) — Dr. Bryan Crute, a national church leader and pioneer in church health, will speak at Milligan College on Thursday, March 27, at 11 a.m. in Seeger Memorial Chapel.
Crute, founder and senior pastor of Destiny Metropolitan Worship in Atlanta, Ga., is widely known for his creative leadership and community involvement. Since 2001, he has partnered with Dr. Rick Warren, author of the bestselling book “The Purpose Driven Life,” to teach church health sessions. In 2002, he launched The Center for Creative Leadership and Ministry Innovation.
Crute began his public ministry in the 1980s by mentoring a small group of men on the campus of Virginia State University (VSU). He would pray with the men and challenge them to pursue their dreams and live up to a standard of holiness that God required. While a student on the campus of VSU, he became known as a powerful encourager who had the faith to do things that others didn’t believe could be done.
After graduating from VSU, Crute began traveling from state to state to encourage college students to pursue excellence and holiness. In 1993, he created an organization by which he could exercise this gift nationally, The Institute for Leadership Development (iLEAD). He continued to train college students to be biblio-centric leaders by hosting leadership conferences every spring and Leadership Training School (LTS) every summer. It was during this time that Crute and his wife, Lanette, were commissioned by church leaders in Virginia to start a church in the metropolitan Atlanta area, now known as Destiny Metropolitan Worship. What launched as a core group of 20 believers who met in the basement of the Crute’s home, Destiny is now a “purpose driven” church with over 1,900 members and an average of 2,500 adult weekend attenders.
In 2005, Crute and Destiny were featured on CNN’s “Faces of Faith” as part of a feature on “purpose driven” ministries. That same summer, Crute and a core group of church leaders traveled to Rwanda with Warren to train church pastors.
Crute holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Regent University and a doctorate degree in strategic leadership from Regent’s School of Leadership Studies in Virginia Beach, Va.
Crute’s lecture is free and open to the public. For more information contact Nathan Flora at 423.461.8748, or NFlora@milligan.edu.