In our covenant, the members of Grace Covenant Church promise, "We shall be priests to one another, ordained by our baptism to the work of a caring ministry." Recognizing that they serve a congregation of ministers, the pastors of Grace Covenant interpret their own task as primarily that of equipping the congregation for service. Larry and Carolyn Dipboye share the pastoral/teaching/preaching task, and Rodney Parrish leads in the ministry of music.
Larry Dipboye
A native of Texas, Larry Dipboye is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and received his Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has served as pastor of churches in Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee and as an Adjunct Professor of theology at Southern Baptist Seminary. He has been a pastor in Oak Ridge since 1988. He is a regular instructor in religion courses for the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning and serves on the advisory board of the Oak Ridge Forum on Religion and Science. With his wife Carolyn, he is co-editor of The Inclusive Pulpit, a publication of the International Council of Community Churches. He has two adult children and four grandchildren.
Carolyn Dipboye
Carolyn Dipboye is a native of Georgia and is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon. She holds a M.Div. and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. She has served as adjunct faculty at Southern Baptist Seminary and Bellarmine College in Louisville and at Carson-Newman and Tennessee Weslyan colleges in Tennessee. She has published articles on issues in Christian ethics and is author of Women of Faith: Living Lives That Matter. Since moving to Oak Ridge in 1988, she has been an active volunteer in community organizations. She is a frequent instructor in ethics and religion for the Oak Ridge Institute of Continued Learning and is co-chair of Women's Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge. She serves on the Board of Christian Ethics Today and co-edits The Inclusive Pulpit.
Rodney Parrish
Rodney Parrish is a native of Pompano Beach, Florida, and a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He holds a masters degree in church music from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and has served as a minister of music in churches in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee. He is currently the manager of Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County's Home Store in Oak Ridge. He is married to the Reverend Susan Parrish, who is currently Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County.
