Jan. 17, 2013
For Immediate Release

By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University is sponsoring Dr. C.B. Akins, Sr., senior pastor at First Baptist Church Bracktown in Lexington, Ky., as the speaker for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. in Ransdell Chapel at 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville, Ky.

United to Praise, a Campbellsville University gospel group comprised of CU students, will have special music.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Akins as our speaker for our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service,” John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said.

“Dr. Akins is an outstanding preacher and speaker and exemplifies the spirit of Dr. King's call to serve others and to bring people together.

“Our goal is to inspire people to go from the worship setting with a strong commitment to Christian servant leadership and to resolve to continue the work of Dr. King and others who sacrificed so that all people will be ‘judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.'”

Akins graduated from Carrier Mills High School in Carrier Mills, Ill. in 1968; from the Defense Language Institute, Czechoslovakian Dept., Monterey, Calif., in 1971; the University of Maryland, German Department, Rimbach, Germany, in 1972; Draughon's Business College, Paducah, Ky., 1976; Paducah Community College, Paducah, Ky., 1978; University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., 1993 with a bachelor of arts in social work with honors; Lexington Theological Seminary with a master of divinity in 1996; Simmons Bible College in Louisville in 1998 where he received the honorary doctor of divinity; and the Lexington Theological Seminary in 2001 with a doctor of ministry degree.

He served in the United States Air Force from 1969 to 1973 and taught foreign languages in the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. Army Reserves. He has also studied eight additional languages including Czechoslovakian, Russian, Chinese, Mandarin, German, French, Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

Having responded to the call to the ministry in 1977, he was licensed to preach, ordained in 1980, and became the pastor of Carneal Chapel MBC in Paducah, Ky. from 1980 to 1983. In 1983 he accepted the call to pastor First Baptist Bracktown and grown the church exponentially from 65 members to over 1,000 active members.
Akins is an in-demand preacher/speaker for revivals and conferences across the nation and is often called upon to support and to be a voice for disenfranchised cultures.

He belongs to various boards including: the Commerce Lexington board of directors; Fayette Educational Foundation board of directors (charter member); One Voice board of directors; African-American Education Coalition (charter member); Simmons College of Kentucky board of trustees; first vice moderator of the General Association of Baptists in Kentucky; vice chair Kentucky Board of Education; former member Midway College board of trustees; and he was recently appointed by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. He was appointed by former Ky. Gov. Ernie Fletcher to serve as board member to the Kentucky Board of Education from 2006 to 2011.

He has an affiliation with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the General Association of Baptists in Kentucky, Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Consolidated District Convention.

In March 2011, Akins and his wife, Roszalyn Mack Atkins, among many other clergy and political figures, were invited guests to President Barak Obama's World Day of Prayer Breakfast held annually in Washington, D.C.

Akins is the author of the Book “From Burden to Blessing.” His motto is: “Our Sole Business is Soul Business.”

He and his wife have four children: one son, C.B. Akins Jr., and three daughters, Alicia, Neesha and CeKesha.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.