The Rev. Raymond Franklin, pastor of Rock Elvy Missionary Baptist Church in Shady Grove, recently earned a bachelor of arts degree in Bible and pastoral ministry from fully accredited Selma University School of Seminary.

In addition to pastoring and working a fulltime job at Sikorsky Manufacturer in Troy as a senior aircraft processor, Franklin attended Selma University after work and on weekends, earning an associate of arts in Bible and theology.

As a bi-vocational pastor and student, Franklin is devoted to his calling in the ministry, his church, job and the classroom. Franklin has a heart for people. He enjoys teaching Bible study every Wednesday night and preaching God’s Word on Sunday mornings. Teaching his congregation to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Franklin was born to the late Preston and Marie Franklin of Ansley, a rural area of Pike County, in 1958, the fourth of eight siblings. He was educated in the Pike County School System and graduated from Goshen High School in 1976.

He was married to Sarah Stringer in 1977.

Franklin served in the United States Army National Guard from 1976 and retired in 2000 in Transportation with an honorable discharge.

He also retired from Appleton Wire in Montgomery as an industrial electrician, graduating from Trenholm Technical College with an associate degree in residential and industrial wiring.

Franklin answered the call to the ministry in 1997 under the late Rev. H.L. Price and began pastoring in 1999 to present Rock Elvy Missionary Baptist Church in Shady Grove.

Franklin and the church where he serves as pastor are active in the Alabama State Missionary Baptist Convention and the Southeast District Baptist State Convention.

In January 2012, Franklin was nominated and elected moderator of the Helicon Baptist District Association in which 10 churches are in the district located in Pike and Crenshaw counties.

Franklin and his wife have one daughter, Paula, and a granddaughter, Ashlyn, 5, who reside in Chicago, Illinois.

In the fall of 2013, Franklin will return to seminary to enroll in the master’s program of divinity. In addition to fulfilling his duties as husband, father, grandfather, employee and pastor, Franklin enjoys Atlanta Braves baseball, Alabama football, reading, walking and family outings.

This article was submitted to The Messenger.