Bishop Lorenzo N. Peterson is the Founder and Senior Pastor of the New Hope Freedom and Deliverance Cathedral in Louisburg, North Carolina. Bishop Peterson is a husband and father, married to the beautiful Starlett Watson- Peterson of Tacoma, Washington.
Bishop Peterson initially received his ministerial training from the Burgaw Minister’s Institute under the direction of his father, Rev. Robert F. Peterson Sr. At age 14, he was licensed in the ministry under the leadership of Rev. Fred Evans, Pastor of Hayes Chapel of Rose Hill, North Carolina.
At age 18, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, he began his evangelistic training in Fort Walton Beach, Florida under the leadership and training of Pastor Jim Brown, Evangelist Brenda Bynum, and Elder Clarence Oglesby of Sound Christ Gospel Church. Later, the Lord directed Lorenzo to the Beulah Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach, Florida and the leadership of Pastor Scottie Thigpen where he was ordained. His educational studies include: The Community College of the Air Force, Chapman College, Shaw University School of Divinity, and Freedom Life Bible College. Bishop Peterson received his Master’s in Theological Studies in 2008 and his Doctorate in Theological Studies in 2013 from the Regency Christian College of Jacksonville, Florida.
While serving in the Air Force, he was sent to the state of Alaska where he became the Assistant Pastor to the Rev. Ulysses S. Reid at the Eielson Air Force Base Chapel. Called by God, his next ministry assignment was to pastor at the North Post Chapel in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Lord then sent him to Tacoma, Washington. Under the direction of Superintendent James T. Watson Sr. of Greater Joy Church of God in Christ, he served as an Assistant to Superintendent Watson, where he was ordained as an Elder.
After relocating to North Carolina in 1988, he began serving as the Youth Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Cary, NC. In 1990, he became the pastor of the South Main Street Baptist Church of Louisburg, North Carolina. Upon completion of this assignment, he joined the Church of God in Christ under the leadership of Bishop Leroy Jackson Woolard, Presiding Prelate of the Greater North Carolina Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ and under the tutelage of Superintendent Patrick L. Wooden. In May 2008, Pastor Peterson was ordained Apostle through the Apostolic Prophetic Connection of Albuquerque, New Mexico by Apostle Elizabeth Hairston. On May 19, 2009, he was consecrated by the International Alliance of Bishops as Bishop Primate (Presiding Bishop) where Bishop D. Myles Golphin served as the Chief Consecrator. On July 26, 2018, he was enthroned into the Archiepiscopacy as a metropolitan Archbishop.