Gary and Terry Davenport

 

ged880@yahoo.com

FAMILY

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky on October 30, 1950, but spent most of my growing-up years in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I met my wife, Terry, while a student at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We married on July 2, 1971 and have three children, Tonia (age 30), Eric (age 28), and Gregory (age 26).  Tonia (May, 1999) and Eric (May, 2000) graduated from Harding. Gregory and Tonia are working in the Fort Lauderdale area.

 

Eric and Wendy were married in June, 2000. Eric is now  a student at the Harding Graduate School in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the family minister at the Tammany Oaks church of Christ, some 25 miles north of New Orleans), for just over three years.  We have two grandchildren, Brinson and Aiden. Go to this site to see pictures of my family and two grandsons.

 

Terry was born in Waco, Texas and spent many years in Phoenix, Arizona, moving there when she was eight years old. She attended Lubbock Christian College for two years and went one quarter to David Lipscomb College, before transferring to M.T.S.U., where we met, married and both graduated in 1972. Her parents now live with us in Mentor, Ohio and are faithful members of the Lord's church. Her dad, Batsell Moore, was an elder at the Camelback Church of Christ when they lived in Phoenix.

 

My parents are Buell and Rheda Davenport, who have been members at the East Brainerd Church of Christ in Chattanooga since 1960. My Dad was one of the elders there until his death on December 2, 1996. He had also preached at some of the smaller congregations in the Chattanooga on a regular fill-in basis.

 

A brother-in-law, John Kachelman (Freed-Hardeman graduate), has preached in Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas and written for Truth for Today, in Searcy, Arkansas. He is now working fulltime in mission work to the Ukraine and ministers with the Judsonia church of Christ in the Searcy area. John speaks annually on the Freed-Hardeman University lectureship program. A brother, Bo Davenport, served as family minister at the Campus church of Christ in Norcross, Georgia, for several years and is now the administrator/director of the Atlanta Inner-city Ministry (AIM). Four of my eight brothers and sisters attended Freed-Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee.

 

EDUCATION

I graduated from Tyner High School (Chattanooga, Tennessee) in 1968 and from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1972. I completed all classes required to teach in the secondary level of high school except for completing my student-teaching semester.

 

I also have some 14 semester hours of undergraduate Bible from Harding University and David Lipscomb University. I received those undergraduate while working as a campus minister at MTSU (the D.L.U. hours one summer and the Harding hours through extension classes offered at the MTSU Christian Student Center). I have facilitated classes offered at our congregation for extension credit from the Sunset International Bible Institute, formerly the Sunset School of Preaching. I have also been trained to use and conduct Serendipity sessions through a seminar conducted by Lyman Coleman.

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

April, 2004 – Present

Evangelist for the Mentor church of Christ in Mentor, Ohio. A congregation of some 190 members.

 

January, 1992-April, 2004

Pulpit minister for the West Broward Church of Christ, 12550 West Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33325.  A congregation of some 385 members with six elders, 12 deacons, an associate minister, a part-time counseling minister, and a youth/family minister. They have been in a new building since June of 1995, and have experienced great numerical and spiritual growth since the move, averaging more than 153 more per Sunday morning during the 1997-2000 years....are also very transitional…they’ve had 356 move “in and out” since that move to the new location in 1995 and 488 since 1992. Most are leaving the area due to work opportunities/obligations…some have become unfaithful and, of course, there have been some deaths. I also served as the webmaster for the website and it can be seen at www.westbroward.org .

 

We were formerly the Andrews Avenue Church of Christ, located at 1153 South Andrews Avenue in downtown Fort Lauderdale.  We have also expanded our building with nine new classrooms, moving in on January, 2000. I work in all aspects of  planning with the elders of our ministry system. I also lead singing on "singing nights" and have conducted in the past a quarterly Sunday afternoon devotional service at the Broward Correctional Facility, a medium security prison for women in the county.

 

I have also helped organize an effective ministry system with the deacons and also a "We Care" small-group ministry, which is aimed at getting members into each other's home for fellowship and edification. I have also taught classes in the Atlantic International Bible Institute in Hialeah, Florida, which is an extension school of the Sunset Church of Christ in Texas. I taught a class entitled Developing a Passion for God.

 

1989-1992 -- Education minister, East Brainerd Church of Christ, 7745 East Brainerd Road, Chattanooga, Tenneseee  37421.  Was in charge of all classes for all ages of 525-plus member congregation, in addition to compiling Sunday morning material for adult Bible program (that congregation is now over 875 members strong). I also led singing on a regular basis and preached at least 10-12 times per year on a fill-in basis.  When I began working at Boyd-Buchanan School (see below), I worked only part-time for the East Brainerd congregation.

 

1989-1992 -- High school teacher, Boyd-Buchanan School, 4626 Bonnieway Drive, Chattanooga, Tenn., 37411. While at BBS, I taught four 9-10th grade Bible classes per day (85 students) in addition to a journalism class, physical education class, and helped coach middle school football, baseball, and high school girls' basketball.

 

1986-1989 -- Pulpit minister, Brookwood Way Church of Christ, 248 N. Brookwood Way, Mansfield, Ohio  44906.  We were a congregation of just over 220 members. Was very involved in building home Bible study groups which met both edification\fellowship needs and also evangelism. While in Mansfield, I was also on contract with the state of  Ohio as an emergency chaplain at the Mansfield Correctional Institute (a medium security prison for men), where I conducted regular Sunday morning worship services and did occasional workshops and new inmate interviews for the chaplain's office.

 

1982-1986 -- Worked as education minister at the Brainerd Church of Christ (425 members at the time), in addition to leading singing and teaching adult classes. Helped implement ministry system while there in addition to writing adult Bible school material for all Sunday morning adult classes. Had five elders and 14 deacons. I also preached on a regular basis.  For 15 months, while at Brainerd, I served as a Bible School consultant with Sweet Publishing, helping to introduce their materials in the Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama area in addition to conducting teacher workshops where requested.

 

1979-1982 -- Campus minister and director, Middle Tennessee Christian Center, 1105 E. Bell Street, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 37130. I also worked as an education minister and song leader for the East Main Church of Christ for two of those years while in Murfreesboro. Worshipped at the North Boulevard congregation during the last 2 1/2 years, leading singing and teaching college and adult classes while a campus minister. Our college program grew from 30 to over 140 students during my time there, with a core group of 90. It was normal to have 90-95 students for our Wednesday night Bible class at the North Boulevard congregation the week of mid-terms and finals.

 

1972-1979 ---Sports reporter for the Chattanooga News-Free Press in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I majored in secondary education and  journalism, with a minor in English in college. I covered all aspects of local and state sports, including Ohio Valley Conference events and occasionally the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University sports.

 

REFERENCES