Reverend Wm. L. Strickland is truly a servant of God. He began his walk with the Lord
at a very early age and he has deliberately demonstrated his love for God with all his heart, soul,
and mind. It was under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Dr. F. Keith Slaughter that he accepted
God’s Call into the gospel ministry. Rev. Strickland preached his initial sermon, “I am what I
am” on November 26, 2000, at the Brown Chapel Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rev. Strickland is a visionary leader, and he believes that it is his role to help guide and
equip both the young and the seasoned saints of Jesus Christ through sound biblical teaching.
While serving at BCBC, he helped to institute and directed the Young, Gifted, and Saved
ministry, re-instituted and directed Vacation Bible School, organized and instituted a
Thanksgiving Outreach Meal Program, and assisted in a plethora of additional ministerial duties.
It was at Brown Chapel that he was ordained on November 24, 2002. He served the church
faithfully as interim Pastor until October of the following year.

In January of 2004, Rev. Strickland was overjoyed to find himself under the tutelage of
the renowned Rev. Dr. W. J. Lawson as a member of the Cornerstone Community Baptist
Church. Rev. Strickland served the CCBC family as the Youth Pastor. He worked faithfully with
the NEOS (youth ministry) while assisting with a host of other ministerial duties. His next
ascension took place on January 12, 2008, when Rev. Strickland was called to the pastoral office
of the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where the church is
“REACHING IN to REACH OUT for CHRIST!”

Rev. Strickland is not only a resounding prognosticator of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but
he is also a veteran educator. Rev. Strickland earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education with
a concentration in Political Science from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and he
earned a Master of Education degree at the State University of West Georgia. Rev. Strickland
also matriculated at Northcentral University where he earned the status of an Educational
Specialist. Rev. Strickland taught middle grades and coached athletics in the Atlanta Public
School System for eleven years after which he served as an Assistant Principal at several different
schools. He culminated his career in education as the principal of Skyview High School in
College Park, Georgia. Rev. Strickland retired from his field of labor after 31 years of dedicated
service to the youth of the greater Atlanta area.

Rev. Strickland is the proud son of the late William Lorenzo and Allean Schley
Strickland. He is married to the love of his life, Lekina Dykes Strickland, and they are the
devoted parents of a son (Zion Immanuel Amari Strickland) and a daughter (Adoria Imani
Strickland). Rev. Strickland possesses a servant heart and desires to humbly walk with God as he
faithfully serves the greater Christian community and the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church
family through pastoral leadership, spiritual guidance, and biblical teaching.