Lee University Opens Celebration 2026 and Homecoming With Loran Livingston and a 300-Voice Choir

CLEVELAND, Tenn. —

Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., a school of the Church of God, opens its Celebration 2026 weekend Thursday, Nov. 5, with a 10:45 a.m. Forever A Flame chapel service in the Conn Center. Lee alumnus Loran Livingston, senior pastor of Central Church in Charlotte, N.C., is to preach, and the 300-voice Festival Choir and Orchestra will sing, according to Faith News Network. Celebration runs Nov. 5-6, and Homecoming follows Nov. 6-7.

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On Friday, Nov. 6, morning classes are canceled for nine seminars at 9 a.m. across campus, Lee said. Speakers include Dr. Augustin Bocco, a Lee alumnus who received the Charles Paul Conn Award and is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tennessee Wesleyan University; three-time Grammy winner Nathan Chapman; Dr. Jordan Halsey, a pediatric craniofacial surgeon at Johns Hopkins University; and Dr. David E. Ramirez, who in 2026 became the first foreign-born leader elected Director of World Missions for the Church of God. Ramirez will speak on “Global Ministry: The World at Our Table” in Cornerstone Chapel.

The Service of Celebration follows at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the Conn Center, with a keynote by Lee President Dr. Phil Cook, music from the Festival Choir and Orchestra, and the dedication of the David and Mary Ellen Wright School of Engineering and Computer Science with a litany and prayer of dedication. An open house and reception will follow at the new engineering building.

“Celebration is one of those special times when we have the privilege of welcoming guests to Lee's campus,” said Josh York, chair of the Celebration committee and Lee's vice president for operations.

Friday evening brings the Traditions of Lee program at 7 p.m. in the Conn Center, with the Alumni Quartet, Voices of Lee and a student choir of more than 250 voices. The Class of 1976 will hold its 50th anniversary dinner, the Grand Reunion, at 5 p.m. in Deacon Jones Dining Hall.

Saturday, Nov. 7, opens with school, department and club breakfasts at 9 a.m., a Music in the Air showcase at 10 a.m., the Homecoming Parade on the Pedestrian Mall in late morning, and a tailgate lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Centenary Courtyard. The Homecoming Court will be presented at the men's basketball game at 2 p.m. in Paul Dana Walker Arena.

“Homecoming is a special time each year on our campus to honor the past, celebrate the present, and dream big for the future,” said Carman Lastoria, Lee's director of alumni and donor relations. The full weekend list is on Lee's alumni events page; the Office of Operations takes questions at (423) 614-8351.