Johnson and Summer Bowie
The passing of the torch.
The Bowies have faithfully served the people of Victory for 20 years in various capacities, including building a thriving young adult ministry and leading our Hamilton Mill campus since 2010. They have faithfully demonstrated, through their leadership and care for people, that they carry both the vision and the heart of Victory. Watch this video message from Pastors Johnson and Summer to get to know them a little better!
The Lord began the gradual process of showing them how they could one day further the multi-cultural vision that Victory stands on.
They kept this revelation to themselves for the next two years as His bigger plan continued to unfold.
The board affirms Pastors Dennis and Colleen’s desire for Pastors Johnson and Summer to be the future senior pastors.
After prayerful and humbled consideration, Pastors Johnson and Summer accept the call to be Victory’s future senior pastors.
This coach is responsible for helping Victory create a healthy and successful plan of succession.
This team is made up of members of Victory’s staff who represent gender, racial and generational diversity.
Pastors Dennis and Colleen shared their vision for Victory’s and their own personal NEXT with the entire staff.
Pastors Dennis and Colleen partner with Pastors Johnson and Summer to discuss VictoryNext.
Pastors Randy and Cheri Cochran will begin their leadership as the Victory Hamilton Mill campus pastors.
Pastors Johnson and Summer will transition to primarily work at our Norcross campus alongside Pastors Dennis and Colleen. During this time, there will be a gradual transition of leadership responsibilities.
We will honor Pastors Dennis and Colleen and their 30-year Victory legacy—as well as celebrate what is ahead as we look to continuing and furthering the mission of Victory together. Learn more at victoryatl.com/celebrate.
Pastors Dennis and Colleen will pass the mantle of leadership onto our new senior pastors, Johnson and Summer.
As we launch into the future with excitement for our pastors and church, we realize you will want to know specific details about this transition. Here you will find responses to the questions that you may have.
Several years ago, the Lord began to speak to pastors Dennis and Colleen about Victory and how to reach future generations. They felt convinced by the Lord that the best way for Victory to continue to effectively reach people in the years to come is to pass the mantle of senior leadership to emerging leaders who have been well equipped. Their greatest desire is for the church they founded, nearly 30 years ago, to continue reaching people for Christ for decades to come.
What God has been doing at Victory these last 30 years is unique and powerful. In recent years, the Lord has stirred a more global vision in the hearts of pastors Dennis and Colleen. They are ready to take the principles of discipleship, healthy family, and cultural reconciliation and grow other pastors, spiritual leaders, and churches across the United States and the world. What God has done here at Victory was never meant to stay here. Pastors Dennis and Colleen are excited to take the vision birthed in this house beyond Atlanta, across the country and around the world.
When they are not traveling and ministering globally, pastors Dennis and Colleen will continue to call Victory home. As we move into the next season, we are excited to have pastors Dennis and Colleen continue their investment into the church by representing Victory in ministry across the country and the world. Their experience and spiritual insight will continue to be a help and blessing to us and the church.
The new senior pastors of Victory will be pastors Johnson and Summer Bowie. The Bowies have faithfully served the people of Victory for 20 years in various capacities, including building a thriving young adult ministry and leading our Hamilton Mill campus since 2010. They have faithfully demonstrated through their leadership and care for people that they carry both the vision and the heart of Victory. We have full confidence in them as the Lord’s choice for our next senior pastors.
We will celebrate all that the Lord has done through the Rouses at Victory and come together to bless them at an all-campus celebration in August 2020. This will serve as the final passing of the baton of leadership as our senior pastors and the beginning of the NEXT exciting chapter of their ministry vision.
Between now and then, we will continue the strategic, gradual transition of leadership from Pastors Dennis and Colleen to Pastors Johnson and Summer that has already been in the works, heeding the Lord’s direction. In 2020, Pastor Johnson will speak more frequently during our weekend services at Norcross as well.
Yes! As a church family, we will corporately honor and celebrate our pastors at a church-wide celebration in August 2020. As the date of this celebration approaches, we will let you know how you can best express your gratitude and thanks for their leadership as our pastors.
Like families, the Kingdom operates generationally. Principles, truths and leadership are passed down from generation to generation, so that the family “legacy” carries on. Likewise, the vision, mission, and values of Victory will continue to be the pillars upon which this church stands. As a church family, we will continue to help people become fully committed disciples of Jesus through building families, transforming communities, reconciling cultures, and impacting nations.
We’re glad you asked! They would love to get to know you as well, so please say hello! You can click here for a video introduction to Pastors Johnson and Summer. You can also watch one of Pastor Johnson’s most recent messages by clicking here.
Pastor Dennis will continue to “anchor” the pulpit in 2019. In 2020, Pastor Johnson will increasingly share the preaching responsibilities with Pastor Dennis until August. Of course, you’ll also have the opportunity to receive from Pastor Colleen and Pastor Summer at various times in the year.
In 2018, Victory’s leadership hired an outside Christian consultant to assist us in creating a healthy, strategic succession plan. Additionally, a transition team has been established that meets regularly to guide the transition practically. Our heart is to honor our founding leaders, embrace our new leaders, and faithfully care for the people that the Lord has entrusted to us at Victory.
Pastor Dennis and Colleen’s heart is for you to continue to be an engaged, active part of the Victory family as they pass on the mantle of leadership. They would be quick to remind you that the church has never been about a personality but about the presence and person of Jesus glorified in our church family. Pastors Johnson and Summer carry the same heart for this house and are honored to carry on the vision of the church. We pray that you will be an active part of it!
Pastors Johnson and Summer will become the senior pastors of Victory as a whole and no longer serve specifically at the Hamilton Mill Campus. So, we have exciting news about the leaders that will be stepping in as the new campus pastors at Hamilton Mill! Click here to visit our Hamilton Mill page and learn more about what is ahead for VHM.
We are blessed and thankful to have Pastors Andrew (Mo) and Kendra Momon leading our Midtown Campus, and they will continue to serve our Victory family there.
You can view a timeline of important dates here.
Thank you for asking! You can pray, serve, and build with us.
Please PRAY for the people at every Victory campus throughout this transition. We want every person to feel loved and valued! Also, pray for Pastors Dennis and Colleen, Pastors Johnson and Summer, Pastors Randy and Cheri, our board, and all the leadership at Victory as we continue to seek God’s will in all things.
We are so grateful for the thousands of people who SERVE at Victory every week. We would love for you to be a part of serving God’s people across Atlanta through the ministries of the church.
We are excited about the future! Let’s use words, prayers, and influence to BUILD Victory’s future together in faith!
Pray for the people of Victory. Pray that we would all see and sense the Lord’s hand in every aspect of this transition. Pray for Pastors Dennis and Colleen and the vision the Lord has given them for their future as we send them as a church family. Pray for Pastors Johnson and Summer as they step into the role of leading our church, that the Lord would cover them and guide them with His wisdom. Pray for Pastors Randy and Cheri as they take on their new role at Hamilton Mill. Pray, most of all, that the Lord would be glorified and people would become fully committed disciples of Jesus, as we all continue to carry on God’s story through Victory into the future.
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