Pastor Smokie Norful is a world-renowned Pastor, award-winning recording artist, educator, author, husband, father and visionary who has a strong passion for winning souls and transforming the lives of others. He has reached the heights of success in both ministry and music, with spanning over two decades of preaching, more than 18 years of pastoring, and a celebrated music career spanning over two decades.

As an internationally recognized musician, composer, producer, and singer, Norful's 2002 solo debut release, "I NEED YOU NOW," catapulted him to worldwide acclaim. Since that time, he has found commercial success with five Number 1 Billboard albums and over 4 million albums sold worldwide. He has earned 2 Grammy Awards, 11 Stellar Awards, 5 Dove Awards, 1 Soul Train Music Award, 2 NAACP Image Award nominations, and 3 BET Award nominations.

In addition to his countless awards and honors, he is also an accomplished author with his first book, "Take the Lid Off," an extraordinarily empowering compilation of his personal life stories and antidotes, as well as biblical and practical insights to help every individual maximize their potential.
Pastor Norful is an educator at heart, having received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In his ongoing pursuit of growth and development in leadership he also pursued a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and in May of 2018 received a master's degree in Organizational Leadership from Trinity International University. His next pursuit is to receive a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership.

On September 20, 2005, Pastor Smokie Norful and his wife, First Lady Carla Norful, officially launched Victory Cathedral Worship Center in Bolingbrook, IL where he serves as Senior Pastor. Over the past 18 years, Pastor Norful and the Victory Cathedral church family have experienced extraordinary and unprecedented growth in the far western suburbs of Chicago. Victory Cathedral has connected with over 2 million worshipers, led 15,000 souls to Christ, and physically and spiritually assisted countless thousands of families over the course of 18 years.

Victory is now a multi-campus ministry, reaching thousands who attend weekly in person or connect virtually through the online Global Campus. The south Chicago campus was launched in 2007 and is known as Victory City Chicago. Inspiration church in Houston was launched in 2017 under the leadership of Pastor Carlos Jones, Victory City Birmingham was launched in 2019 under the leadership of Pastor Brandon Knight, and in the spring of 2022, Victory City Atlanta was launched.

With more campuses launching in the near future, the ministry continues to expand, focusing on impacting the community and encouraging its members to "live to be missed, not just remembered." Victory accomplishes this by adopting a heart of volunteerism, charity, philanthropy, and a priority toward evangelism and social engagement. These initiatives are an extension and reflection of the heart of Pastor Norful.

Pastor Norful is married to his beautiful wife of 25 years, Carla Norful, and they have three amazingly gifted and accomplished adult children, Ashley (Graduate of Northern IL University, a corporate Fortune 500 Logistics Director; Tre' (Magna Cum Laude Graduate of Morehouse College, Finance & Spanish; Current graduate student in pursuit of an MBA and JD in southern California); Ashton (4.3 GPA High school Graduate and current College sophomore studying Business Finance in southern California).