Rick Thomason (Senior Pastor)
Rick Thomason grew up in Russellville, TN on a beef cattle and burley tobacco farm. He was saved at 9 years old at Russellville Baptist Church. After graduation from Morristown East High School in 1974, he attended Walters State Community College majoring in agriculture. In 1976, he transferred to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he completed his B.S. degree in Agriculture Education.
In January, 1979, he accepted a position as Vocational Agriculture teacher at Johnson County High School in Mountain City, TN. He would later go on to earn his M.S. degree in Agricultural and Extension Education from the University of Tennessee. In 1992, he accepted a position with the UT-Johnson County Extension office where he served as a 4-H and Agriculture Agent and Johnson County Extension Director until he retired in 2019.
On August 3, 1979, Rick married the love of his life, Jahala. She went home to be with the Lord on July 12, 2019. Rick and Jahala have 2 sons, Jonathan and Josh. Jonathan and his wife, Shawna, have a daughter, Violet, and Josh and his wife, Leticia, have a son, Everett. Rick’s two grandchildren are now the love of his life.
In 1990, God called Rick to preach the gospel and he was licensed and ordained into the ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Mountain City, TN. In August, 1990 he was called to serve as Youth Minister at Pine Grove Baptist Church in Johnson County where he served until March, 1995 at which time he was called to serve as pastor of Central Baptist Church in Mountain City.
My life verse is found in Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Contact Rick Thomason at rlthomason56@gmail.com.
Ray Branch (Associate Pastor)
Ray Branch is the Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor of Central Baptist Church. Ray and his wife, Diana, have been members of Central Baptist Church since 2010.
Before coming to Central, they attended Evergreen Baptist Church, where Ray was pastor for 10 years. Ray and Diana have been married since 1993, and have two grown children, Kristen and Stephen.
Ray accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior in July of 1989. After serving in the Army from 1992 until 1994, Ray answered the call to the ministry in the fall of 1994. Ray loves serving God and ministering to the people of the Lord. He is currently pursuing a degree in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University to further support and encourage God’s people.
Contact Ray Branch at branch29@peoplepc.com.