John Douglas Sterrett, III was ordained as a Minister of the Word in the Presbyterian Church (USA) on October 18, 1987 in the Lebanon Presbyterian Church and became our 5th church Pastor.
Doug grew up as a member of the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church and was a graduate of Lexington High School and Virginia Military Institute. Following graduation from VMI in June 1963, he was commissioned in the US Army and married Rachel Livingston
In 1971, Doug received a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. Doug retired from the US Army in 1983 as a Lieutenant Colonel and then attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois where he received a Master of Divinity Degree in June 1986. He served a 15-month internship in evangelism and church development in the Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX. John and Rachel had 2 sons, John and Joe who were both students at Oral Roberts Univ in Tulsa, Oklahoma when Doug was called to Pastor at LPC.
When Doug and Rachel came to Lebanon, they were excited about starting a new career. Some might have considered the switch from an army career to the ordained ministry rather severe. Doug replied that “Over the years, I have continually been involved with people, often in crisis and always confronted with integrating the Christian life and ethics in an often-hostile non-Christian environment. This has given me a great appreciation for the pain and problems which people go through in life and of my own reaction to them. I sense the call of God to the ordinated ministry within the Presbyterian Church (USA) very strongly and look forward to serving our Lord, Jesus Christ in this capacity.”
Doug worked tirelessly for LPC. During his time here, we had two great improvements to the physical church and grounds. A few years ago, Doug provided us with the written story of our church sign and bell.
“In the early 20th century, there was a preacher named Bob Childress who lived and worked in the mountains between Hillsville and Floyd, VA. He founded fourteen churches in that area, some of which are still going. He is credited with changing the entire culture of the area around Buffalo Mountain. A book was written about him, The Man Who Moved a Mountain and is required reading for many seminary students at Union Seminary. He also has four sons who became Presbyterian ministers. When I came to Lebanon in 1987, I came to know the last living son, Brian Childress. He was by then retired, but still preaching at four churches in our Abingdon Presbytery. Later, when we were about to finish the new Sanctuary and put up a new sign, I learned that one of Bob Childress’ old churches was to be sold and I asked the Presbytery Executive, Dr. Don Nance, if we could have the bell out of the church to mount on our sign.
He and Brian Childress decided that would be a good thing to do. So, one day, we all went to the church near Hillsville with tools to take it down. I was the only one thin enough to climb up through the bell tower, squeeze around the bell, and open a vent to get out on the roof so I could take the bell loose. Since I would have to cut the supports with a chain saw, we tied a rope around the bell and over an overhead beam and down to Brian Childress’ truck bumper.
We estimated the bell weighed about 200 lbs. and thought we could lower it down through the tower (which was about 15 to 20 ft) by backing the truck up a little at a time, after I cut the supports. When everything was ready, I cut through the supporting beams, but the bell turned sideways and got stuck. I pried it loose and suddenly it fell, breaking the rope, taking out all the supports below it in the tower and breaking through the floor of the church. It had torn out all of the boards I used to climb up on and I remember having some difficulty getting down. We then managed to pull the bell up out of the floor and put in the back of Don Nance’s Suburban
We took the bell to the Lebanon church and the Clerk of the Session, Russell Senter designed and built a new brick sign to hold it. It is on permanent loan to Lebanon from the Presbytery.” (David Prater, Doug Sterrett, David Cross, Joe Edwards and Gary Holliday assisted with the installation)
In 1989 another wonderful improvement was made with building a new sanctuary and expanding the church building. A special groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 29, 1989 and the first Sunday morning worship service was held in the new sanctuary on December 10, 1989. A dedication worship service was held on January 14, 1990. Rev. Sterrett coordinated the service program and made plans months before the actual date. He put a long rope on the bell and all the children took their place on the rope and rang the bell on its new home, our sign. The bell had called worshippers to church for many years in the Silver Leaf Presbyterian Church near Hillsville. The bell continues to tie us to our Presbyterian Heritage as it rings. Our children often ring it still at Rally Day and special occasions in the church.
In August 1992, Rev. Sterrett announced to the LPC congregation that he would be leaving our church. He accepted a call from a church in the Shenandoah Presbytery. It was with heavy hearts that we watched them go, but we praised the Lord for our associations and the many blessings the Lord poured upon us when he brought Doug and his family to our church and our community. Doug and Rachel now live in a retirement community in Boone, NC. Their sons, Dr. John B. Sterrett, is a Presbyterian Minister in Golspie, Scotland and Dr. Joseph W. Sterrett and wife Rachael live in Aarhus Denmark, where he is an Associate Professor of English at Aarhus University in the School of Communication and Culture.
