“There is a Place for Your Voice”
20 years ago, God began preparing Brian Peart for a special calling. But Brian didn’t recognize His hand until one Sunday service.
Brian was sitting in the evening service with a friend as doubts swirled in his mind. A few months before, he’d felt God clearly prompting him to found his own church, but he kept hitting roadblocks.
“I broke down when I couldn’t get the guy I thought was going to do the internet,” Brian said. “I couldn’t find a music guy, and I was supposed to start [the church] in a month. I had nothing.”
His friend invited him to the service, and there God spoke to Brian through the pastor.
“Two-thirds of the way through his sermon, he pointed at me, asked my name and said, ‘I see that God’s been pouring into you for 20 years now. There is a place for your voice.’”
In 2005, Brian became licensed to preach, but by 2025, he was still working as a CEO in the corporate world, specializing in commercial and business loans.
“No door had ever opened to preach,” he said.
But early in 2025, he received an invitation to a pastor’s conference. Since that work week was slow, Brian decided to go. There, God changed the trajectory of his life.
“I caught a vision there. God shared with me that I needed to start a church,” he said.
While at the conference, Brian called a friend with Across the Bridge, a Lawrenceville rehabilitation ministry where Brian serves as a board member.
“I said, ‘What do you do with your facility on Sunday mornings?’ He goes, ‘Nothing. Why? Do you want to start a church?’”
This conversation further emphasized God’s hand on the church’s founding, but Brian still encountered trial after trial as he searched for people to help him build the church from the ground up.
Yet Brian was able to push through each one. In August of 2025, The Great Awareness Church in Lawrenceville officially opened.
The congregation is small, but they share Brian’s vision to raise awareness of Jesus’ imminent return and to offer hope to suffering families through outreach opportunities. For years, Brian has prioritized community outreach by building an orphanage in Haiti, supporting orphans and widows and serving on boards such as the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia and Across the Bridge.
Now he’s grateful to work alongside his church to meet community needs.
“I believe the Church should be working actively in the local community, so our goal is to do outreach every month and be heavily involved in our local Lawrenceville community,” Brian shared.
In this season of ministry, Brian’s passion for awareness is stronger than ever, especially in light of recent global events — from the United States’ intervention in Venezuela to protests in Iran to conflict in Israel and Ukraine.
“God shared a vision with me to prepare the Bride for the coming of the King, so my goal is to get everyone ready by getting them back into a good relationship with Jesus,” he said.
He’s inspired by the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in Nehemiah.
“When [Nehemiah] was building the wall, he [told the Israelites], ‘You have to secure the wall in front of your house.’ We have to go to the people we love and start there. Every church should focus not just on members but on the members’ families,” Brian explained.
“I can’t fix Iran, but we can reach out to the people around us, the people in our families. We have to start at home, and if every person who calls themselves a Christian would evangelize in just their spheres of influence, we could have a whole country turned [to Jesus].”
He knows firsthand that God’s call to evangelize, even in our families and communities, can be scary, but Brian feels called to encourage and challenge his congregation to push through the fear.
“If someone is on a journey that God told them to do, there’s going to be doubts,” he said, “but if we can encourage them, it’s the best thing we can do.”
“There is a Place for Your Voice”
20 years ago, God began preparing Brian Peart for a special calling. But Brian didn’t recognize His hand until one Sunday service.
Brian was sitting in the evening service with a friend as doubts swirled in his mind. A few months before, he’d felt God clearly prompting him to found his own church, but he kept hitting roadblocks.
“I broke down when I couldn’t get the guy I thought was going to do the internet,” Brian said. “I couldn’t find a music guy, and I was supposed to start [the church] in a month. I had nothing.”
His friend invited him to the service, and there God spoke to Brian through the pastor.
“Two-thirds of the way through his sermon, he pointed at me, asked my name and said, ‘I see that God’s been pouring into you for 20 years now. There is a place for your voice.’”
In 2005, Brian became licensed to preach, but by 2025, he was still working as a CEO in the corporate world, specializing in commercial and business loans.
“No door had ever opened to preach,” he said.
But early in 2025, he received an invitation to a pastor’s conference. Since that work week was slow, Brian decided to go. There, God changed the trajectory of his life.
“I caught a vision there. God shared with me that I needed to start a church,” he said.
While at the conference, Brian called a friend with Across the Bridge, a Lawrenceville rehabilitation ministry where Brian serves as a board member.
“I said, ‘What do you do with your facility on Sunday mornings?’ He goes, ‘Nothing. Why? Do you want to start a church?’”
This conversation further emphasized God’s hand on the church’s founding, but Brian still encountered trial after trial as he searched for people to help him build the church from the ground up.
Yet Brian was able to push through each one. In August of 2025, The Great Awareness Church in Lawrenceville officially opened.
The congregation is small, but they share Brian’s vision to raise awareness of Jesus’ imminent return and to offer hope to suffering families through outreach opportunities. For years, Brian has prioritized community outreach by building an orphanage in Haiti, supporting orphans and widows and serving on boards such as the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia and Across the Bridge.
Now he’s grateful to work alongside his church to meet community needs.
“I believe the Church should be working actively in the local community, so our goal is to do outreach every month and be heavily involved in our local Lawrenceville community,” Brian shared.
In this season of ministry, Brian’s passion for awareness is stronger than ever, especially in light of recent global events — from the United States’ intervention in Venezuela to protests in Iran to conflict in Israel and Ukraine.
“God shared a vision with me to prepare the Bride for the coming of the King, so my goal is to get everyone ready by getting them back into a good relationship with Jesus,” he said.
He’s inspired by the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in Nehemiah.
“When [Nehemiah] was building the wall, he [told the Israelites], ‘You have to secure the wall in front of your house.’ We have to go to the people we love and start there. Every church should focus not just on members but on the members’ families,” Brian explained.
“I can’t fix Iran, but we can reach out to the people around us, the people in our families. We have to start at home, and if every person who calls themselves a Christian would evangelize in just their spheres of influence, we could have a whole country turned [to Jesus].”
He knows firsthand that God’s call to evangelize, even in our families and communities, can be scary, but Brian feels called to encourage and challenge his congregation to push through the fear.
“If someone is on a journey that God told them to do, there’s going to be doubts,” he said, “but if we can encourage them, it’s the best thing we can do.”
