by Ryan Bower, Assistant Director of Public Relations
Clayton King, founder of Clayton King Ministries and teaching pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina, will speak at Cedarville University’s annual Fall Bible Conference, August 17-20.
A nationally renowned speaker, King regularly speaks at churches and universities throughout the country. At Cedarville, he will be speaking six times in four days.
As the first chapel speaker of the year, King has the unique opportunity to help set the tone for the 2015-16 academic year. He plans to speak about embracing weakness in order to find strength.
It’s something that hits close to home for King, who lost nine family members over a 12-year stretch. King believes he was called to preach at each funeral, including his own father’s funeral on Father’s Day.
“The messages will center around the idea that weakness is not wasted when it’s a way to worship, and that faith replaces fear, but not without a fight,” he said. “No matter what specific passage of Scripture I end up speaking on, I’ll always preach the Gospel.”
That call to preach the Gospel came early in King’s life, when he answered an altar call at age 14 during a youth rally in South Carolina. After giving his life to Christ, he felt the Lord’s call to enter the ministry.
“It’s a very specific story that I plan to share with the Cedarville students when I come to campus,” he said. “Once I felt the calling, my parents and pastor helped me affirm it and God began opening doors. I haven’t turned back since.”
In addition to his call to his speaking ministry, King has authored 12 books and has spent time as a distinguished professor of evangelism at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina. When he’s not writing, speaking and traveling, King spends as much time as possible with his wife, Sharie, and sons, Jacob (12) and Joseph (9).
“My family is my priority, and I spend almost all of my time with them when I’m home,” he said. “We love to go hunting, ride four-wheelers, watch movies and go on hikes together. My wife and sons love to come along on trips with me, and we often take an extra day on the road to explore new cities as a family.”
While he’s been given the opportunity to travel throughout the country, write books and teach in higher education, the most rewarding part of his work is still seeing others come to Christ.
“I love to see people get saved; it’s why our ministry does everything that it does,” he said. “Our ministry’s vision is to preach the Gospel and make disciples. I’ve been blessed to see a lot of people respond to the Gospel and whether it’s one person or 1,000 people, it never gets old.”
Video and audio of King’s messages, and all other chapel messages throughout the year, can be found at cedarville.edu/chapel. For more information about Clayton King Ministries, visit claytonking.com.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,620 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings.
A nationally renowned speaker, King regularly speaks at churches and universities throughout the country. At Cedarville, he will be speaking six times in four days.
As the first chapel speaker of the year, King has the unique opportunity to help set the tone for the 2015-16 academic year. He plans to speak about embracing weakness in order to find strength.
It’s something that hits close to home for King, who lost nine family members over a 12-year stretch. King believes he was called to preach at each funeral, including his own father’s funeral on Father’s Day.
“The messages will center around the idea that weakness is not wasted when it’s a way to worship, and that faith replaces fear, but not without a fight,” he said. “No matter what specific passage of Scripture I end up speaking on, I’ll always preach the Gospel.”
That call to preach the Gospel came early in King’s life, when he answered an altar call at age 14 during a youth rally in South Carolina. After giving his life to Christ, he felt the Lord’s call to enter the ministry.
“It’s a very specific story that I plan to share with the Cedarville students when I come to campus,” he said. “Once I felt the calling, my parents and pastor helped me affirm it and God began opening doors. I haven’t turned back since.”
In addition to his call to his speaking ministry, King has authored 12 books and has spent time as a distinguished professor of evangelism at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina. When he’s not writing, speaking and traveling, King spends as much time as possible with his wife, Sharie, and sons, Jacob (12) and Joseph (9).
“My family is my priority, and I spend almost all of my time with them when I’m home,” he said. “We love to go hunting, ride four-wheelers, watch movies and go on hikes together. My wife and sons love to come along on trips with me, and we often take an extra day on the road to explore new cities as a family.”
While he’s been given the opportunity to travel throughout the country, write books and teach in higher education, the most rewarding part of his work is still seeing others come to Christ.
“I love to see people get saved; it’s why our ministry does everything that it does,” he said. “Our ministry’s vision is to preach the Gospel and make disciples. I’ve been blessed to see a lot of people respond to the Gospel and whether it’s one person or 1,000 people, it never gets old.”
Video and audio of King’s messages, and all other chapel messages throughout the year, can be found at cedarville.edu/chapel. For more information about Clayton King Ministries, visit claytonking.com.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,620 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings.