One of six children of Emory J. and Elizabeth (Betty) Jarrett, Russell grew up in Jacksonville, Florida before the family moved to Marietta, Georgia while he was in the tenth grade in 1960. He graduated Cum Laude from Sprayberry High in 1962. From June 1962 until June 1966 he was in the U. S. A. F., received 22 semester hours in Chinese Mandarin at Yale University and was soon promoted to the Transcription Department while serving in Taiwan. In 1964 Russell married. The couple had two sons, Russell Jr. and Richard.

Russell grew up in a Baptist home and was active with Youth for Christ in high school.  While in the USAF he worked with missionaries in Taiwan.  He became a Seventh-day Adventist minister from 1973-1981. Russ graduated Cum Laude from Southern Missionary College in Tennessee in 1976 and served two churches in Georgia, four in North Dakota and one in South Carolina.

Although legally blind since 1989, Russell subsequently completed a Th. M.. and a Ph. D. at independent Baptist-oriented Covington Theological  Seminary in Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia in August 2000. (See discussion of accreditation below.)  His dissertation was on the subject of tithing. From that dissertation came his first book, Should the Church Teach Tithing? A Theologian’s Conclusions about a Taboo Doctrine.[1] His second book is Exposing Seventh-day Adventism, published in 2005.  His third book, From Gethsemane to Ascnsion, An Ultimate Harmony of the Gospel, Easter and Resurrection Plays, February 2008, is in conversational stye.

After being mentioned in many news articles, Russell was interviewed on Moody Broadcasting Prime Time America in November 27, 2006. In February 2007 Russ was initially featured in the Trevor Glass documentary Suffer th Children about financial abuse in the church. On November 23, 2007 the Wall Street Journal published an article by Suzanne Sataline, The Backlash Against Tithing, in which Russell Kelly was a major contributor. On March 2, 2008 Russell was featured on the CBS Sunday Morning news cover story, To Tithe or Not to Tithe. He was subsequently mentioned in Charisma Magazine online, page one. In the fall of 2008 Russell began teaching at the Baptist International Bible Institute. On March 27-29, 2011 Russell appeared on two live radio programs at Premier Christian Radio in London. On March 30, 2011 he participlated in a very successful live 90 minute tithing debate in London on Revelation TV.

Theologically, Russell is a conservative evangelical dispensational Baptist. He teaches adult Sunday School at Iron Hill Baptist Church, Acworth, Georgia. www.ironhillbaptist.org.

Russell has been married to Janice Lynn (Rich) since 1998 and retired in March 2007. He spends much of his time writing and is available for travel. His favorite hobby is singing gospel, Elvis (Tribute Artist), Marty Robbins and Frank Sinatra. As of September 2008 he lives in Acworth, Georgia  in a small double-wide.

GOSPEL OUTREACH SINGING: www.russrocksingeorgia.com   

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MY EDUCATION:

 

High School: Sprayberry, Marietta, Georgia, 1962; Cum Laude

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B.A.; Southern University of SDA (fully accredited) 1976; cum laude;  minor: Theology; Biblical Greek (18 hours); History; Pastoral Leadership

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Minor: Yale University; 1963; Chinese Mandarin; 22 semester hours; cum laude

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Other Fully Accredited Courses, Kennesaw University, GA; Valley City State College, ND

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Other Accomplishments: Complete Business Management, LsSalle, Chicago, ILL; Master Course Color TV Servicing, National Technical Schools, Los Angeles, CA; Amateur Radio Operator’s General License, N4FVA; Some language skills in Hebrew, Spanish and Latin

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Accredited by Non-Government Agencies:

Th. M.: Covington Theological Seminary, Ft Oglethorpe, Ga; cum laude

Ph. D.: Covington Theological Seminary, Ft Oglethorpe, Ga; 2000; cum laude

 

Covington is a member of the Association of Christian Education Schools and Seminaries (ACESS).

Covington is a member of the Accrediting Commission International (ACI).

Covington is affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) of Washington, DC.

http://nae.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=nae.members&listId=schools

Covington is affiliated with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).

 

CONCERNING ACCREDITATION:

by Russell Earl Kelly

 

When bloggers have exhausted themselves trying to refute my biblical and historical arguments from my book and web site, they occasionally will turn to personal challenges of my sincerity, motives and education. I admit that my Th. M. and Ph. D. are not from a “fully government-accredited school.”  I have been legally blind since 1989 and read with great magnification. Since I do hot have the blessing of being able to drive, that severely limited my choices of education and I turned to Covington to finish my education.

 

In my opinion it is not necessary to have a degree in theology from an accredited school because the Federal Governmen is not qualied to judge the "accuracy" of one's theology.

 

While I think that it is essential to expect supervised monitoring of subjects such as medicine and law that cannot possibly apply to theology. The fact that a school is fully accredited says absolutely nothing about the correctness of its theology or the student being able to leave that school with God’s truth.

 

There are hundreds of religious schools that refuse to even seek accreditation because they do not want the government telling them how and what to teach. My country has fully accredited seminaries which are operated to train such theologically diverse churches as Roman Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians -- both liberals and conservatives. Their theology and approach to discovering biblical truth differ very radically. The Assembly of God accredits its own schools and  does not seek government accreditation.

 

My B. A. in Theology is from a fully accredited Seventh-day Adventist school which gradates very good doctors, nurses and business majors but it also graduates very poor theologians.  No sane person would argue that my SDA theology is better and more defensible than my theology from Covington merely because it is more accredited.

 

Look at the quality of my book.  Read the seminary level hermeneutics applied within. These study techniques were learned at fully accredited schools before I went to Covington, including Yale University. I have proven my intelligence and ability to produce accredited level research.  My biblical Greek and church history minors come from a fully accredited school.  I graduated “cum laude” from the Yale University Institute of Far Eastern languages while in the U. S. Air Force and earned 22 semester hours.  I apply the discipline required to produce quality writing.

 

No schools had accreditation when the U. S.A. was new.  All of its great leaders either graduated from un-accredited schools or from no schools at all. Abraham Lincoln studied at home and passed the bar exam. Billy Graham’s D. D. is honorary. Charles Stanley, Spiros Zodhiates and former SBC President Jerry Vines graduated from Luther Rice Seminary before it was accredited by TRACS in 1989. The famous Walter Martin (Kingdom of the Cults) graduated from an unaccredited school. And the list could fill a normal-sized book.

 

How good is an education from Covington?  Like any other school it is as good as the student wants it to be.  Is it a “diploma bill”? Far from it!  Fourteen of its schools in the U. S. and many more overseas are classroom education.  Its textbooks are the same ones used in fully accredited seminaries.  It does not use tape recordings and it does not use multiple choice tests. Test answers must be found through reading the assigned material. My Ph. D. dissertation was the same length as that required by fully accredited schools and was reviewed and approved by a committee. I am confident that it would meet the standards of fully accredited schools.

 

Look at the list of schools which have Covington graduates on faculty.  The list below was only from the first five pages of Google under “Covington Theological Seminary.” The majority of Covington graduates also have earned degrees from fully accredited seminaries. Very often the Covington degree  follows a M. Div. from schools such as Dallas, Moody or Southern Baptist Seminaries. (Moody Bible Institute does not seek accreditation either.) Somebody must think that the Covington degree is valuable. Several have passed state exams to qualify as counselors following a Covington education.

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From a Baptist Press article: http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?id=24242

 

Waylan Owens, a former vice president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary who was in charge of guiding accreditation-related matters, cautioned that accreditation might not be the best mark of a seminary's quality.

Though the accreditation process allows schools to set their own educational goals, a postmodern mindset among accrediting agencies compromises the value of accreditation, Owens told Baptist Press.

"Parents and churches assume [accreditation] means one thing, and it doesn't," said Owens, who still teaches at Southeastern and serves as pastor of Good Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest, N.C. "Accreditation does not guarantee that your son or daughter will walk across that stage with a quality education."

Accrediting agencies do not dictate what a school must believe theologically, but many accrediting agencies hold liberal values and have an educational philosophy that is different from the educational philosophy of most Southern Baptists, Owens said.

"There is not direct pressure on your doctrinal statement. There is indirect pressure,” he said. “I don't know how the accreditors really can help it. The whole educational establishment is liberal in its thinking.... The way a conservative does education and the way a liberal does education are really in some places very different.

“Liberals approach education as being a matter of just exploring -- there is no right, there is no wrong, let's just look at all sides of things and try to create a tolerant open-minded person,” Owens explained. “A conservative says no. We want to teach everything that's out there. But we are going to advocate what we believe to be true.”

Within the educational world, there is some pressure to put the federal government in charge of all accreditation in higher education, Owens said. If that happens, liberal influence in accrediting agencies likely will increase, he said.
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COVINGTON EXTENSION SCHOOLS WITH CLASSROOM EDUCATION:

 

Alabama – Coastal; Mobile; Ebenezar Missionary Baptist; Herb Collier

Alabama – Northeast; Anniston; First Baptist Church, Weaver, Alabama, David Boyd

Alabama – Southeast; Opp; First Baptist Church, Ralph Aaron

Georgia – Central; Carrolton; Shady Grove Baptist; Jerome Mitchell

Georgia – Northeast; Ft Oglethorpe; Covington; Bob McFarland

Georgia - Rome; Greater New Fellowship Missionary Baptist; J E Coombs

Georgia – Southeast; Savannah; Dean Forest Baptist Church; Larry Strickland

Missouri; Calvary Bible College, Kansas City; Mike Piburn

North Carolina - Western; Love Memorial Baptist, Gastonia NC; Jimmy Westmoreland

South Carolina – Central; Turbeville; First Baptist Church; Bob Craven

South Carolina -Eastern, Aiken; Town Creek Baptist; Joe Youngblood

South Carolina – Upstate; Central; Bishop Branch Baptist; Luther Price

Tennessee – Southeast; Chattanooga; Jones-Spence Center; Jay Trimble

Tennessee – East; Knoxville; Rogers Memorial Baptist; Michael Caldwell

 

SCHOOLS WITH COVINGTON GRADUATES ON STAFF:

(from only five pages from Google)

 

CCBI; Caribbean College of the Bible International; Assembly of God association; David Sneed

College for Global Deployment; Gregory Romine; Cynthia Romine;

Covenant Bible Institute, Portal, Georgia; Steve Coyle, faculty

Foothills Theological Schools, Brian Ezell, Pastor Broad River Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, NC

Gulf Coast Bible Institute; Ft Walton Beach, FL; gcbi.org (does not seek accreditation )

Hannibal-LaGrange College; Hannibal, Missouri. Fully accredited four-year liberal arts college.

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Journey Churches Inc, Acworth, Ga; Douglas Crumbley

Massillon Baptist College, Massillion, Ohio;

Mid-Continent University, Mayfield, Kentucky

Revival and Missions International (partnership)

South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary, Deerfield Beach, Florida. 

American Federation of Colleges and Seminaries;

State of Florida Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI);

The Bureau of State Approving for Veterans Training;

American Psychological Association (APA).

Western Bible College; Phoenix, Arizona. 

Western Bible College (WBC) is endorsed by the Commission on Christian Higher Education (COCHE) of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Because of this endorsement, students of WBC are able to transfer their credits to other Assemblies of God colleges and universities.

Westminster Catawba Christian School.; Rock Hill, SC; Tracey Denney

 

CHURCHES AND COUNSELORS WITH COVINGTON GRADUATES AS PASTORS OR ON STAFF:

(from only five pages from Google)

 

Castle Rock Christian Fellowship;

Chowan Baptist Association, NC

Crossroad Counseling; Counseling degree listed in Psychology Today Magazine.

   Kennesaw, Ga; State of Georgia licensed counselor.

Davis Islands Baptist Church

First Baptist Church, Maryville, Missouri

First Baptist Church, Monks Corner, SC

First Baptist Church. Sumter, SC

First Baptist, Richland Hills, Ft Worth, Texas, Hemp Edward LInehan

First Southern Baptist Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ken Musselwhite

Grace Baptist Church; Yuba City, CA

Keys Baptist Church, Christian Counseling Services; Andrew Bowman

Macland Baptist Church, Powder Springs, Ga

Meadowdale Baptist, Calhoun, Ga

Mountain Grove, Granite Falls, NC;

Penfield Christian Home, Ken Carvalho

Seaford Baptist Church; Seaford, VA

Warren Wiersbe’s staff on “2ProphetU.com.” Alan Stewart

Western Ave Baptist Church; Statesville, NC, Ed Yarbrough