May 2, 2017 (Houston, Texas) - Belhaven University Houston will honor its graduating students on May 5, 7 p.m. at Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 8300 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX.
Pastor Walter August Jr., The Church at Bethel's Family, will be the honored commencement speaker this year. He was raised in Abbeville, Louisiana. After graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he served through 1983. Later, he joined First City Bank Corporate Security Group, where he trained in professional management. While working with LaSalle Partners Asset Management Company, Pastor August advanced to several positions, specialist to director of security.
In 1994, Pastor August professed his calling to the ministry of the Gospel and founded Bethel's Family Baptist Church. During this time, he founded Bethel's Heavenly Hands, a food distribution pantry and Bethel's Place, Inc., a community empowerment organization supporting job training and placement, after-school programming and vocational training.
Serving many years as a missional pastor, Pastor August launched sevenchurches and over 58 ministries through Bethel's Family. While his hands remain full, he still makes global missions a priority. He and his teams frequently travel to various regions and train evangelist, provide medical clinics and develop church leadership teams.
After attending Southwestern Theological Seminary in Houston, Texas, Pastor August received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Saint Thomas Christian College. He has served on the board of Baptist Church Loan Corporation of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He has published a book: Embracing Bootstrap Leadership, an in-depth guide onChrist-centered leadership, released in 2014. In 2016, Pastor August was inaugurated as, President of the African American Pastors' Fellowship of Houston. He and his wife of 30 years, Mrs. Ruby August, have three sons and grandchildren.
For additional questions about graduation, contact Veronica Waller at vwaller@belhaven.edu or 281-579-9977.