Belhaven University’s Chattanooga Campus will honor its graduating students during a commencement ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m.
Students, many of them working adults, went through the adult studies programs at Belhaven University Chattanooga and will receive their diplomas in Downtown Chattanooga at Second Presbyterian Church.
Virginia M. Garrison, director of Student Services, said, ““We are excited that our first group of MBA students are graduating and participating in the December commencement ceremony, along with a number of undergraduates. This is another milestone for Belhaven Chattanooga."
The commencement speaker for Belhaven Chattanooga’s graduation ceremony will be Belhaven alumnus, Dr. Ronald W. McKinney (‘67). He is the pastor of Kinsey Drive Baptist Church and also works at Christian Heritage School as a teacher, coach and a member of the board of directors.
Dr. McKinney graduated from Belhaven University in Jackson, Ms., with a Bachelor of Arts in Business and minor in Bible in 1967. He received a Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Clinton, Miss. in 1974. He received his Doctor of Ministry from North American School of Theology in 1990.
After seminary, he was executive director for Multi-Communication Ministries, Inc., an international ministry that produced radio and television programs as well as publishing books and periodicals. He served as editor-in-chief of the Sword & Trowel, an international theological journal that had 28,000 subscribers in the US and 48 other countries. He has published more than 800 articles and essays. He is presently seen on the television program, “Majesty,” broadcast twice a week and on several cable systems in North Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.
Dr. McKinney has pastored Kinsey Drive Baptist Church in Dalton since 1990. Previously, he had pastored churches in Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. For the past 22 years he has been involved with Christian Heritage School, which was initially located at Kinsey Drive Baptist Church. He served on the board for 12 years and currently is on the Administrative Council.
Dr. McKinney resides in Dalton with his wife of 37 years, Bonnie, an English teacher at CHS. He has three married daughters, a son, and three grandchildren.