ATS » Give Now » The Advancement Team
Ronnie Jones is the executive director and the senior regional representative for the advancement department. His primary responsibility is to develop and maintain relationships with current and potential donors, alumni and churches throughout the southeastern states. In addition, he trains and mentors new regional representatives and assists our current regional team as needed. He and his wife Brenda have been married for 39 years and have three children and seven grandchildren. He is a 2000 graduate of the seminary with a master’s degree in Biblical studies. Ronnie is also an ordained elder in the Evangelical Methodist Church. In addition, he has completed approximately 50% of a doctorate in religious studies at Trinity Theological Seminary. Ronnie spent over 30 years in the carpet manufacturing industry after having graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology (GA TECH) with a bachelor’s degree in textiles in 1970. For most of his career, he was involved in the manufacturing, marketing and management of his own company which produced various raw materials for carpet and rugs. Ronnie feels that his position at Asbury is a Kingdom Call requiring a Kingdom Commitment and defines his role according to this verse from Proverbs 22:29, “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.”
Ron Dear, regional representative for Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, started with Asbury Seminary in May 2006, coming from a finance and banking background. Ron left twenty years in banking and eighteen with the federal government behind to accept this answered prayer to be with Asbury. In his free time, he has been active in the Kairos Prison Ministry Movement, serving on three boards and advisory counsels, and Cursillo. His wife Gloria and their three boys, Brian, Joshua and Jonathan, remain closely connected to whatever is going on within the family.
Tom Garrett and his wife Laura reside in the bedroom community of Granbury, Texas, near Fort Worth. In the winter of 2004, they attended Asbury Seminary's President's Retreat on Marco Island, Fla. Catching a glimpse of the strategic role that Asbury plays in the worldwide advancement of the kingdom of Christ, Tom made the decision to leave his successful career with AFLAC Insurance and answer the call to serve Christ through the seminary. He is now Asbury's field representative throughout the central portion of the U.S., where he and Laura travel expanding the network of friends of Asbury.
Greg Kannon has been part of the Asbury family since 2000. Currently he is the regional representative for Florida. Greg received his bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Stetson University in 1999. He completed his master of divinity degree at Asbury's Florida campus, graduating with the seminary’s first Florida class in May 2003. In 2003, Greg became a minister at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Fla. Currently, Greg worships and serves on the preaching team at Awaken Orlando Wesleyan Church. Prior to God's calling into a vocation of ministry, Greg served in the U.S. Postal Service for 18 years. Greg and his wife Kelly live in Lake Mary, Fla, and have been married for 10 years. In their leisure, Greg and Kelly enjoy traveling, water skiing, scuba diving and snow skiing.
Ken is the regional representative to the northeast. Before coming to Asbury Seminary, Ken was blessed to serve the families of Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, Ind. He also designed the educational programs of the Christian Stewardship Association, which trained Christian stewardship professionals throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. Ken and his wife Renae have 2 boys and 1 girl, Tyler (9), Stuart (7) and Jessie (5). They live in Wilmore, Ky.