Alumni Spotlight: Lauren Efird (’06)

I am Rev. Lauren Efird, the Senior Pastor of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church, where I get the privilege of forming and shaping disciples in Cary, NC, through preaching, pastoral care, and congregational leadership. I enjoy carving out space in a congregation where all are not only welcomed but affirmed and seen as imago dei. Even though I grew up preaching to my baby dolls, my calling to be a pastor was not affirmed by the Southern Baptist tradition I grew up in. I was delighted to have religion professors at Campbell who introduced me to Baptists who would affirm me in my calling to be a pastor. I am a proud 2006 graduate of the Campbell University Religion Department, and I’ll be forever grateful for my time there as it helped me to relearn scripture and the life of faith in ways that were more life-giving to me and all of God’s beloved. I have the privilege of doing life with people who are committed to fully living out a vision of being an inclusive community of faith and engaging in the work of anti-racism. We are currently in the midst of a journey of repurposing our property to better meet the needs of our community. And week after week as we seek to become more of the community God is calling us to be, I get to do what I was born to do: preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and spur us all, including myself, on to more faithful living.