LIIV Atlanta Sets Sept. 27 Opening at Longtime Peachtree Corners Church
LIIV Atlanta will launch its third campus on September 27 at the former Landmark Church in Peachtree Corners, preserving local worship and community services in a debt-free facility with expanded programming led by new pastors.
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A church property that has served Peachtree Corners for more than half a century will begin a new chapter this month as LIIV Atlanta opens its third campus.
LIIV Peachtree Corners will launch Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3737 Holcomb Bridge Road, the longtime home of Landmark Church. Opening-day services are scheduled for 9:30 and 11:15 a.m., with children’s programs offered at both times.
The opening follows an uncommon transfer between congregations. Landmark is giving its debt-free church and surrounding property to LIIV, allowing the site to remain a place of worship and community service instead of being sold for another use.
The property covers approximately 11 acres and includes a main sanctuary, additional buildings and sports and recreation fields.
In a part of Gwinnett County where large properties along major roads often attract redevelopment interest, the transfer provides continuity. The name and leadership will change, but the land will continue serving much the same purpose it has for generations.
Landmark Church began in 1974, when pastors Jeanette and Fred Kelly started holding services in their home. A local farmer later allowed the congregation to build on the Holcomb Bridge Road property.
Over the following decades, the church developed a broader role in the community. Its work included addiction-recovery classes, holiday toy drives and other assistance programs. During the disruptions of 2020, Landmark allowed several churches affected by the pandemic to use its facilities for services.
Spanish-, Korean- and French-language congregations have also met regularly on the property.
More recently, declining attendance prompted Landmark’s leaders to consider how the ministry and property could continue beyond the congregation’s current generation. Former senior pastor Bob Vann and his wife, Maria, ultimately chose to pass the church to LIIV rather than close the site or place it on the market.
The transition gives a younger congregation a permanent North Atlanta campus without the mortgage or construction costs that usually accompany expansion.
LIIV Atlanta senior pastor Mayo Sowell said the arrangement will allow money that otherwise would have gone toward acquiring a property to support families, ministry programs and work in the surrounding community.
“A gift like this doesn’t belong to us, it’s been entrusted to us,” Sowell told Southwest Gwinnett Magazine.
LIIV Atlanta was founded in 2022 by Mayo and Kai Sowell. Its name represents four stated values: love, integrity, influence and victory.
The congregation currently operates locations in Sandy Springs and Brookhaven. The Peachtree Corners opening will give it a permanent foothold in southwest Gwinnett and place it near Norcross, Duluth, Johns Creek and communities along the Holcomb Bridge Road corridor.
Ray and Erica Baskerville will lead the new campus. Both served in the U.S. Air Force before working at the Pentagon and in defense contracting. Ray Baskerville later earned a master’s degree in ministry from Liberty University, while Erica Baskerville is pursuing a graduate degree in public health.
The couple have served in leadership at LIIV Atlanta for four years and have four children.
Their arrival underscores the generational element of the transition. Landmark’s recent leaders are handing the property to a pastor whose grandfather also served in ministry and to a congregation founded only four years ago.
“We are excited for the opportunity to continue the mission that Landmark has carried for over five decades — caring for the people of the Peachtree Corners community and sharing the love of Jesus with them,” Ray Baskerville told Southwest Gwinnett Magazine.
The opening will also shift LIIV’s operating model.
Its Sandy Springs congregation meets at Riverwood International Charter School, while its Brookhaven location occupies space on Apple Valley Road. The former Landmark campus offers substantially more land and room for recreation, children’s programs, gatherings and community outreach.
That space may become especially important as the church determines which longstanding programs can continue and what new ministries the Peachtree Corners congregation will develop.
LIIV describes its broader mission as helping people know God, find freedom, discover purpose and make a difference. Its existing programs include children’s and youth ministries, small groups, volunteer teams and community gatherings.
The Peachtree Corners campus will host an early worship and baptism gathering Wednesday, Sept. 16. Food and fellowship will begin at 6 p.m., followed by worship at 7.
The formal opening comes 11 days later.
For Landmark members, the transition marks the end of one chapter in a congregation founded in a family home. For LIIV, it offers the rare opportunity to begin a new campus with an established sanctuary, recreation space and history of local service already in place.
For the surrounding community, the most immediate change will be the name outside the church. The larger significance is that the Holcomb Bridge Road property will remain active rather than becoming another large site awaiting redevelopment.
LIIV Peachtree Corners will open Sunday, Sept. 27, with services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. at 3737 Holcomb Bridge Road. Additional information is available through LIIV Atlanta.
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