May 25, 2012
For Immediate Release
By Christina L. Kern, office assistant
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—“Baseball is a great sport, but I love baseball chaplaincy,” Bob Bailey, chaplain of the Louisville Bats, said to Campbellsville University’s Louisville Education Center (LEC) graduates.
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Bob Bailey |
CU’s LEC graduation celebration held May 18 had a baseball theme.
Bailey’s job as a baseball chaplain “is not to counsel, it is evangelism; taking church to the baseball park.”
Bailey told the graduates “your journey has a lot of twists and turns, but worth it because God walks ahead of you and with you.”
He told the story of how God pulled one of Bailey’s ball players and a random, mistaken acquaintance together to begin a street evangelism ministry in Sacramento, Calif.
After several months of working with a ball player to help him find his place in the ministry, the ball player said he felt called to do street ministry to the Friday and Saturday night bar crowd in Sacramento, Calif.
A few minutes after hearing this, Bailey met an associate pastor from Sacramento, Calif., who had come into the wrong conference room and also wanted to “hit the streets with tracks and Bibles.”
Bailey introduced the two and they now have a street ministry going in Sacramento, Calif.
Bailey said he closes each baseball chapel with the same prayer, “Help us to be more like you.”
Bailey received the Campbellsville University Leadership Award during the graduation celebration.
The graduation celebration also marked history for CU LEC with their first recognition of a valedictorian. Johnnie Lynn Decker of Louisville graduated co-valedictorian with a bachelor of science in pastoral ministries.
The 2012 graduates of Campbellsville University’s Louisville Education Center include: Johnnie Ray Bailey of Lebanon, Ky., master of theology; James Edward Clark, Jr. of Mt. Washington, Ky., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area; Damon C. Cobble of Louisville, Ky., master of science in counseling with emphasis in marriage and family counseling;
Michael Lynn Conver of Goshen, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area; Daniel Martin Davis of Louisville, Ky., master of theology; Johnnie Lynn Decker of Louisville, Ky., who graduated co-valedictorian, bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area; Patricia White Duncan of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education;
Julie Wolfe Elmore of Jacksonville, Fla., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area; Brenda Gail Evans of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; Sharon Fragier of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; Sharayah Katheryn Franklin of Louisville, Ky., master of theology;
Cheryl Rosa Gilbert of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in Christian social ministries area; Brandon Timothy Gossett of Prospect, Ky., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area; Tracy Lynette Hankins of Charlotte, N.C., bachelor of science in organizational management area; Jodi Anne Harris of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in criminal justice administration area;
David M. Harrison of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area; Ashlea Marlene Hennessey of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; Yauka Jereese-Maria Hinkle of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area; Michael Dee Hiser of Shepherdsville, Ky., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area;
Derek Lamont King of Lexington, Ky., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area; Miranda Dawn Melton Kellum of Depauw, Ind., master of science in counseling with emphasis in marriage and family counseling; James Matthew Messamore of Pineville, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area;
Ginger Kay Overstreet of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in Christian social ministries area; Reginald Duwayne Petty of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area; Francis Derringer Ryan of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in Christian social ministries area;Angela Elaine Simmons of Louisville, Ky., master of science in counseling with emphasis in marriage and family counseling;
Jennifer Nicole Terry of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; Bradley Scott Travis of Taylorsville, Ky., bachelor of science in educational ministries area; Paula Callahan Tucker of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; LeighAnne Lawrence Turner of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in pastoral ministries area;
Yolanda Marie Walker of Louisville, Ky., bachelor of science in early childhood education; Jennifer Marie S. Wilson of Mt Washington, Ky., master of science in counseling with emphasis in marriage and family counseling; and Stephanie Ann Wood of Hodgenville, Ky., bachelor of science in organizational management area.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.