REVEREND DR. KENNETH JEFFERSON GRASTY
Reverend Doctor Kenneth Jefferson Grasty was born in Twin Oaks, Pennsylvania, where he received his elementary school education. He accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior at the age of nine and was baptized at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Twin Oaks. After his family’s relocation, Doctor Grasty received his secondary school education in the Chester, Pennsylvania Public School System. Upon graduating from Chester High School in 1957, he joined the United States Navy and was honorably discharged in 1961. He then relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he continued his education. Doctor Grasty received an Associate degree from LaSalle University, and completed an internship at Yale University. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Elizabethtown University and a Master of Education Degree in Counseling from Antioch University. During his several years as a resident in Philadelphia, Doctor Grasty’s employment history includes: Parole Agent and Regional Coordinator for Social Rehabilitative Services, PA Board of Probation and Parole; Probation Officer, Philadelphia, PA; Correctional Officer, Philadelphia. He was ordained as deacon at the Second Baptist Church in Northeast Philadelphia, under the pastorate of Reverend George N. Kenner. While there, he served in many capacities.
In 1997, Dr. Grasty retired from twenty-two years of service in the U. S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Corps. He and his wife then relocated to Louisa County, Virginia and became members of Mt. Hope Baptist Church, under the pastorate of Dr. Monroe L. Smith. Shortly after settling in Bumpass, Dr. Grasty accepted the position of Social Work Supervisor with the Louisa County Department of Social Services from which he retired after five years of service.
After several years as an avid Bible student and teacher, Reverend Doctor Grasty answered the call to preach the Gospel. In 2003, he was licensed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Master of Divinity Degree was conferred upon him from the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University in May, 2005. He was ordained in June, 2005.
During his tenure at Mt. Hope, he served in the following capacities: associate minister; vice chairman, deacon ministry; chairman, trustee ministry; chairman, building and construction committees; member, Christian education ministry; instructor, Wednesday night Bible study; member of the pastor’s “Dream Team”. He has served as an adjunct professor and instructor of Religious Studies at the Louisa site of the Virginia University of Lynchburg.
In October 2007, Reverend Doctor Grasty was installed as pastor of Zion Grove Baptist Church, Woodford, Virginia. As its spiritual leader, Doctor Grasty is dedicated and committed to his calling to deliver what “thus saith the Lord.”
The Doctor of Ministry Degree was conferred upon him in 2011 by the Virginia University of Lynchburg, where he also received the Dean’s Award. The title of his dissertation is A Paradigm in Leadership Management In The Twenty-first Century Church.
Pastor Grasty is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He fluently speaks and writes Spanish.
He is married to the former Eleanor L. Lewis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a retired educator. They are the parents of two daughters: Lisa Pearson and Susan Rand; one son: Michael Grasty; and the grandparents of six.
“And he shall be like a tree…..” Psalm 1:3
