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Article published Jan 12, 2009 Faithful man: Everett High graduate, college founder inspires others
By Matthew Stewart of The Daily Times Staff
Nearly 3,000 men came from all over East Tennessee Saturday evening to participate in the Faithful Men's Meeting at Crown College in Powell.
Some came to seek reassurance, others wanted to reflect on their own convictions, and several men came merely to hear the speaker: Pastor Clarence Sexton.
Sexton, a 1967 Everett High School graduate, has traveled far and wide in service of his Lord.
He played halfback on his high school's football team, and Sexton later became one of the team's captains. He remembered fondly how his team beat Maryville twice and beat Alcoa once during his high school career.Principal changes life
His life might have been different if his high school principal, Robert Davis, had not taken such a vested interest in him, Sexton said. "(Davis) was the man that God used to turn my life around. He helped me to understand that God had more in store for my life."
Sexton vividly remembers a meeting he had with Davis and his mother. "I grew up without a father in Maryville, and my mother raised four children by herself," he said.
Davis asked in this meeting if his mother was solely responsible for raising him, Sexton said. She told him that she was raising Sexton and his siblings by herself, he said. Davis then told her: "Well, I'm going to help you," Sexton said. However, "I didn't know what he meant at that time."
"From that moment on, (Davis) took a personal interest in my life," Sexton said. He later earned an award for being the most improved student at the school. "It was the turning point in my life. I'm happier about (receiving) that (award) than (I am about) graduating from college and seminary," he said.
Sexton said he was saved at First Baptist Church of Maryville. He was later called at 19 years old to Greenback Memorial Baptist Church where he served for three years. He then served until 1975 at Calvary Baptist Church in Lenoir City.
Sexton then joined Dr. Lee Roberson at Chattanooga's Highland Baptist Church and served five years as an assistant pastor. He was called in 1980 to pastor Madison Avenue Baptist Church in Patterson, N.J. about 11 miles west of New York City.
In August 1988, Sexton was "very happy" to accept Temple Baptist Church's invitation to become their pastor, he said. The church is in Powell.
He founded Crown College, which opened in August 1991, and is the school's acting president. The college offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in pastoral ministry, youth ministry, missions, music ministry and Christian education.
Sexton has also taught many courses at Crown College including English, theology and bible study.
The college, which opened with 69 students, now has more than 1,700 graduates spread all over the globe. Crown College opened auxiliary campuses in Evesham, England in 2004 and Fort Worth, Texas in 2005.
Sexton is married to Evelyn Rogers, a 1967 Everett High School graduate, and they have two sons: Matt and Shannon. The Sextons also have six grandchildren.Faithful Men's Meeting
Saturday marked the beginning of this year's Faithful Men's Meeting, which encourages and inspires men to lead a life inspired by the Bible's principles.
Seven Knox County Commissioners, two state representatives, U.S. Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. and William McCrea, a United Kingdom parliament member, also attended the meeting.
Sexton received praise from several elected officials Saturday. "I'm always amazed what Clarence Sexton, Temple Baptist and Crown College has done," Duncan said. "There are very few people I admire or respect more than Pastor Sexton."
Sexton concluded the meeting with a rallying cry. "Our country is in peril ... we all know that. We're suffering deeply, because we have a lack of confidence. Our confidence needs to be restored in the Lord," he said.
"Hopefully God uses this crisis to restore our faith," Sexton said. "We do not have a monopoly on God and his work. God has a monopoly on our lives."