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Dr. Ronald L. Oakes
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August 11, 2006
MOBERLY, Mo. - As Central Christian College of the Bible begins celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, the school will officially welcome its new president, Dr. Ronald L. Oakes.
Oakes, the sixth president of CCCB, will be installed at an inauguration ceremony on Thursday, August 24 at 7 p.m.
In addition to the inaugural address by President Oakes, the ceremony will include reflections of the college's 50 years of service by professors Lloyd M. Pelfrey and Gareth L. Reese. A reception will follow the ceremony,
as well as tours of the Pelfrey Hall west-wing addition.
Dr. Oakes joined the faculty of CCCB in 2004. He served as Professor of Bible and Ministry until he assumed the position of President on July 1, 2006. A 1974 graduate of Kentucky Christian
University with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education, Dr. Oakes also earned a Master of Arts in Theology and a Master of Religious Education from Cincinnati Christian University.
In 1993, he completed a Doctor of Ministry in Church Leadership from Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Oakes’ ministry experience includes work in local churches, para-church organizations, and Bible colleges. He has served as a preaching
minister, youth minister, and Christian education minister in churches in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. He also served as a director of the Adult Training Department with Christ In Youth and the founder/director of the Midwest Youth Workers’ Connection.
Most of his career has been in higher education. For 22 years he served at St. Louis Christian College as Professor (15 years) and Academic
Dean (seven years). Additionally, he has taught short-term courses at Kentucky Christian University, Boise Bible College, Dallas Christian
College, Roanoke Bible College, and Eastern Christian College. He has also published articles and lessons for Standard Publishing and contributed the chapter “Planning for Christian Education” in the book, Foundations for Christian Education published by College Press in 1999.
On March 22, 2006, when Dr. Oakes was introduced as the new president
at the College to the student body during a chapel service, he told the student body, “I believe we have had a positive past, but we can have a fantastic future.” Dr. Oakes expressed his desire that graduates
from Central become known as true believers and real leaders.
Dr. Oakes and his wife, Patti, have two daughters, Alesha and Adrienne, and three grandchildren.
In becoming the next president of CCCB in its 50-year-old history, Oakes joins a list of leaders that includes: John W. Hall, 1957-1959; Grayson H. Ensign, 1959-1966;
Walter "Jack" Spratt, 1966-1972; Lloyd M. Pelfrey, 1973-1998; and Dr. Russell N. James, 2000-2005.
Founded in 1957, Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri is an accredited four-year college supported by independent Christian churches to prepare leaders through biblical instruction and practical training for service around the world.
Central now enrolls over 500 students each year, providing full-tuition scholarships for a new generation of preachers, ministers, and missionaries, which allow every student the opportunity to train free from the burden of educational debt.
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