Reverend Tiffany Knowlin Boykin to Serve as Guest Speaker for Claflin University’s Spring 2026 Baccalaureate Service

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Reverend Tiffany Knowlin Boykin, pastor at the historic Wesley United Methodist Church in downtown Columbia, S.C., will be the guest speaker for Claflin University's Spring 2026 Baccalaureate Service on Friday, May 8, at 6 p.m. at the James and Dorothy Elmore Chapel.

The Baccalaureate Service is a longstanding tradition at Claflin that serves as a prelude to the commencement convocation, specifically for graduating seniors. This year's program will celebrate and honor the achievements of the Spring Class of 2026 through prayers, hymns, and words of inspiration and reflection.

Boykin, a native of Marion, S.C., earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Columbia College. She continued her education at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, where she obtained her Master of Divinity. She received her Master of Urban Policy Studies from The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

During her studies at Georgia State, she worked simultaneously for United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, aiding individuals and groups on mission trips.

Boykin previously served as the pastor of College Place United Methodist Church in Columbia, where she was the first African American and the first female to hold this position. Boykin was also an adjunct professor at Columbia College, where she taught "The African American Religious Experience" to undergraduate students. She has been a trustee for Columbia College, the Sisters of Charity, and Habitat for Humanity.

Boykin will begin a new appointment in June, when she becomes the district superintendent of the Walterboro District of the SC United Methodist Church.

She and her husband, Kareem, are the proud parents of Kaleb.