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Our Leadership

 

Our first and only pastor, Dr. Marvin L. Dobson, Th.D., passed away in 2013.  Since his retirement, we have sought for, but not found, the right man to serve as our pastor.  In the absence of having a pastor, our church has utilized the teaching and preaching skills of our deacon board, which has a rotating schedule in conducting our main worship service.

 

June Dobson and Marvin L. DobsonJune Dobson and Marvin L. Dobson

 June Dobson and Marvin L. Dobson

 

 

 

Our current church deacon board, which serves at the pleasure of the church council, is as follows:

 

The BoardThe Board

Photograph, Left to Right:

Jeffrey A. Cobble, Chairman

D. Layton Stout, Secretary

C.M. Cobble

Joseph R. Coffey

Fred Dearstone – Deacon Emeritus – not pictured

 

Jeffrey A. Cobble

 

Jeff is a Greeneville native, and has been a member of Freedom Baptist Church since 2007.  Shortly after joining, he was elected as a member of the deacon board.  He serves in the church music program as a director and as a group vocalist.  He also teaches the main adult Sunday School class, and also is currently responsible for conducting the Sunday afternoon service and the Wednesday evening service.  He is also on the rotating schedule for the Sunday worship service.

 

Jeff graduated from Greeneville Christian Academy, and then completed a B.S. in Education degree at Pensacola Christian College.  After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he completed a Master’s Degree (MAEd) at Tusculum College and was also selected as a Stokely Fellow and completed a master’s-level program in liberal arts education at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.  After serving in the education field for several years, Jeff attended and completed a law degree (J.D.) at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Thereafter, he entered the practice of law, and he now owns and operates the Cobble Law Firm, with offices in Tennessee and Pennsylvania where he handles a variety of practice areas involving both transactional and litigation matters.

 

He serves as corporate counsel for many non-profit Christian organizations.  He is an advisory board member for the Bill Rice Ranch in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and is a current Trustee for South West Radio Ministries in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He is a frequent speaker, both locally and nationally, on legal and biblical matters, including a popular 40-hour course which he co-created called the Institute on the Constitution.  The course involves a study of biblical principles, history, debate, rhetoric, and logic as applied to the American legal system.  He is a staunch advocate for limited government and for the application of biblical principles to our current legal system.

 

He is married to wife Sheri Cobble, who is the church pianist and the main teacher of all children’s classes.  The marriage has produced 4 children, two of whom are still in the home.  Thanks to the efforts of Sheri, all of their children have been schooled at home as distance learners on the A Beka program from Pensacola Christian Academy.

 

D. Layton Stout

 

D. Layton Stout was born in Greeneville, Tennessee.  December 15, 1976 was a turning point in Layton’s life.  It was on that day that, as an eleven-year-old boy, he trusted Christ as his personal Saviour.  From that time on, it has been an adventure being in the Lord’s army.

 

Layton has advanced degrees in Science and History and numerous minor degrees; he also has graduated from a number of military schools and courses.  Having retired from the military, he is a veteran of the Gulf Wars.

 

Layton has a love of traveling that has led him to working with lots of different ministries and missionaries over the years.  At last count, Layton has been to over sixty countries.  Some of the trips were educational, and some were evangelistic mission trips.  His heart and passion for God are evident in his desire to introduce others to Christ and to the studying of the Word of God.  

 

Layton became a faithful member of Freedom Baptist Church on March 13, 2011. He has served in varies duties of the Church including Announcer, Audio/Visual Tech, Assistant Usher, Treasurer, Security Camera Tech, and Missionary Coordinator.  He was elected to serve on the Deacon Board in 2014.  He is also on the rotating schedule for conducting the Sunday worship service.

 

May 1, 1995 was another turning point in Layton’s life, by marrying his first and only wife, Cindy Stout, who also works in various ministries of the church.  The Stouts have three children:  two adult sons, Ethan and Blake, who are members and active in church ministries, and one young daughter, Abby, who participates in church youth classes.

 

 

C.M. Cobble

 

C. M. is a Charter member of Freedom Baptist Church, where he has served as deacon and a teacher since the inception of the church. 

 

He was born again on October 13, 1963.  Immediately after receiving Christ, he developed a hunger for studying the Word of God, for Christian fellowship through the local church, and for sharing the gospel with unbelievers.  His personal witness has resulted in hundreds and hundreds of decisions for Christ, and in fact, many of the current leaders in other local churches were converted as a result of his evangelistic efforts.

 

C.M. has made numerous trips to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Bible sites, starting with his first trip in 1965, and thereafter, he has led several other later tours.  He has also traveled abroad on many foreign mission trips.

 

Although not an “ordained” minister, he has performed most ministerial functions for decades by conducting hospital visitations, counseling sessions, and funerals of those in the church and in other churches.

 

In 1970, C.M. started the Christian Book and Gift Shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, which was one of the first, if not the first, Christian store of its kind in upper East Tennessee.  The store has played a critical role in the spreading of the gospel and the defense of the faith in the surrounding areas.  His daughter Sonya now serves as the day-to-day manager, although C.M. continues as the owner of the business.

 

C.M. married Carole Scott Cobble in 1960, and he has five surviving children:  Jeffrey Cobble, Sonya Cobble Higgs, Jonathan Cobble, Jason Cobble, and Tara Leigh Cobble.

 

 

Joseph R. Coffey

 

Joe was born on June 17, 1955, and born again on August 27, 1967.  He became a child of God at the age of 12, on his parent’s 17th wedding anniversary, after many memorable occasions of Biblical training by a Christian mother and grandmother long before he even recognized the importance of such training. 

 

Joe attended Breckbill Bible College in Max Meadows, Virginia and received a Associates Degree in Pastoral Studies.  Later, he became an ordained minister in the Evangelical Methodist Church of America, a conservative, fundamental denomination which holds to the original tenets of Methodism as established by John Wesley.  After receiving his degree and ordination, he spent approximately 19 years in the pastorate before coming to Freedom Baptist in 2011. 

 

Joe was elected to the deacon board in 2015.  He currently serves, with pleasure, in limited capacities.

 

He is married to Ruth Coffey, and they have one adult son, Nathaniel, who is a graduate of Bob Jones University and is faithful to all of the church services.

 

 

Fred Dearstone

 

Fred became a Christian in 1947.  He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1953, and served until 1955.  He was married to Wanda Dearstone until her death in 1989.

 

Fred’s first significant Christian leadership role was when he served as the Sunday School Director at GreenHills Baptist Church (Mosheim, TN) for two years.  Shortly after, he left that church to attend an Independent Baptist Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, where he also had a significant leadership role.

 

In 1999, Fred was instrumental in helping to start Freedom Baptist Church in Greeneville, Tennessee.  He was a charter member and was elected to serve on the first deacon board of the church.  He has served, almost continually, on the deacon board until the present.  In 2018, the congregation unanimously conferred upon him the honorary title of Deacon Emeritus.

 

Fred has been a tremendous encouragement to his church and to other Christian leaders.  He is known for passing along a gospel tract or a recorded sermon to people that he meets.  He has been involved with the Tri-Cities Baptist Fellowship in East Tennessee for over two decades, encouraging pastors and other local Christian leaders in their ministries.  He was a personal friend of nationally-known Evangelist J. Harold Smith, accompanying him to several of his evangelistic campaigns. 

 

Fred has taken a special interest in young preacher boys, evangelists, missionaries, and other full-time Christian endeavors, providing encouragement, financial assistance, and other forms of support in getting each one trained in BibleCollege or otherwise prepared for the ministry.

 

Because of his consistent, continual efforts to spread the gospel and to support others who are preparing for the ministry, in 2018, the Freedom Baptist congregation bestowed upon Fred the title of Deacon Emeritus-for-life, in honor of his faithful service to the church.

 

Fred has two grown children, a daughter Michelle and a son Mike.