Kerry Duke: dean, distance learning director

by AMY DAVIS
TENNESSEE BIBLE COLLEGE

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — It was like fire in his bones — and the flames couldn't be contained. 

Barely 20 years old, Kerry Duke had been asked to teach his first Bible lesson at Free Communion Church of Christ in 1979. Not long after, he was called upon by another congregation to preach a sermon.

He was hooked.

"I knew there were things that needed to be said," he said. "Jeremiah said the word of God was in him like fire in his bones, and that's the bottom line in any preacher's motivation."

The young man from Livingston, Tenn., had become a Christian only a year earlier but quickly forged ahead with his new ambition in life. And it's been that way ever since.

Today, almost 30 years later, Kerry serves in several capacities of the Christian life — including the roles of dean and director of distance learning at Tennessee Bible College in Cookeville, Tenn.

And that's just for starters. 

He preaches two sermons on Sunday at his home congregation in Livingston; leads Bible studies on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening; prepares five radio sermons a week; teaches various courses at TBC; takes part in a monthly jail ministry; writes weekly articles for his church bulletin and monthly articles for the Tennessee Bible College publication Living Oracles; authors several religious books; presides at weddings and funerals; makes rounds at nursing homes, hospitals and residences of homebound church members — and, on top of all that, still manages to eat, sleep and spend time with his wife, LeAnn, their four children and two granddaughters.

Kerry Duke
Dean; Distance Learning Director

While the load can be much to bear at times, Kerry said he couldn't imagine his life any other way.

"I try not to think about that because I wouldn't be happy," he said. "I'd be miserable. I'm really blessed because I can do what I love to do every day."

To get to this point in life, he dedicated much time to Bible study. And that's where Tennessee Bible College comes into the picture.

After preaching that first sermon in 1979, Kerry was asked by a man of the congregation if he had considered going to preaching school. He hadn't. As a young man with a family, he lacked the necessary funds for tuition. But the man assured him, "That could be arranged."

"So I just started looking for a school," Kerry said. "I checked on schools from Knoxville to Texas."

And he almost went to Texas — that is, until he discovered a new Bible college just the next county over in Cookeville. Founded in 1978, Tennessee Bible College seemed the ideal place for his training.

"So I started night classes in January of 1980," he said. "By the next January, I was going to school full time and preaching on the side."

And that's not all.

"I just did odd jobs to make ends meet," Kerry said. "I substituted in schools, cleaned church buildings... whatever I had to do."

Eventually, he began working part-time in the TBC library to cover half his tuition. It was a position he held about 10 years.

"During those years I spent a lot of time in the library, not just keeping up with books — checking them in and checking them out — but reading them as well," he said. "So a lot of education came that way."

His initial plans were to apply that education toward mission work. He had earned his bachelor's degree in Bible in 1987 and his master's degree in 1988 and was, thus, ready to depart.

"I had really planned on being a missionary in South Carolina," Kerry said. "I had the town picked out, and then brother Malcolm Hill (president of TBC) asked me if I wanted to teach at Tennessee Bible College."

And that he did, teaching his first course in 1989 and gradually adding more to his plate. He was named dean in 1992 — the same year he earned his doctorate degree — and, in 2000, took on the additional title of director of the college's new Distance Learning program. He has also preached full-time at West End Church of Christ in Livingston since 1997.

What's the best part of working at TBC?

"I think the variety of avenues," Kerry said. "You can preach, teach, write, debate, go to foreign lands and answer questions people have. You hear from many different churches and get to meet a lot of different people you otherwise wouldn't meet if you were only working with a local congregation. So I think that's probably the biggest part of it."

It has also at times given him a voice in the media — particularly, in 2005, when he spoke against a new course on Islam planned for Tennessee State University. The class was dropped after the university received a letter from Kerry, spurring a flood of media interest around the world.

"It was unexpected. Just a shock," he said. "Something that you've said that literally goes around the world and comes back to you. It was very humbling but very encouraging at the same time because it shows that if you say the right thing at the right time — a needed thing at a critical time — people do listen."

What's impressed Kerry the most about TBC?

"Several things," he said. "One is the fact that it's not a liberal arts school. It's focussed on Bible studies. Another thing is that it's not so huge that you can't know personally and develop relationships with the faculty and students. It's small enough that you can really have some impact with them, and they impact you. And the fact that TBC is not government subsidized. That's unique to me because there are very few colleges in the country that are not government subsidized."

The college is just a good place to work and grow in his faith.

"It's hard to say what I enjoy most because I really enjoy preaching, I really enjoy teaching, and I really enjoy writing," Kerry said. "I get to do what I really love to do all day long, which is to teach. So if I'm not working on a sermon, I'm speaking on the radio, writing, teaching a class or getting to visit somebody. I basically teach all day — day in and day out. And that's what I enjoy doing."

The fire burns on.