Meet Our Deacons

Below are our Deacons for the 2012-2013 Church Year.

JJ Bates

J.J. Bates accepted Christ as his personal savior as a young child and was baptized in High School. He has been attending Cherrydale since 2008 and has served in the nursery, B.L.A.S.T, community outreach, and the choir. J.J. met his wife, Melissa, in high school and they have been married since 1998. They have two beautiful daughters, Madelynn and Allegra. He has currently an officer in the United States Coast Guard with over 14 years of Active Duty military service.

Joe Bonafede

Joe was raised by church-going parents in the Roman Catholic Church but came to a deeper understanding and commitment to the Gospel and knowledge of the Bible through a Navigators ministry in college. Joe and his wife, Margery, met in graduate school and were married at Cherrydale in July of 2000. Joe and Margery have attended Cherrydale since moving to the D.C. area in 2003 and became members in 2005. They have two wonderful daughters, Carolyn age 10 and Sarah age 3. Joe and his wife have taught in the children’s Sunday school program since 2005 and currently teach in the “Busy Bees” nursery room during the 11:00 Sunday service. Joe works as a thermal analyst for a contractor to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Randy Burkholder

Randy and his wife Jennifer live in Arlington, Virginia with their seven children -- Peter, Andrew, Kate, Hannah, Abigail, Elizabeth and Jack. Randy came to repentance and faith in Jesus as his Lord and Savior while a junior in college and was baptized the following year. Randy was born in Richmond, Virginia and spent much of his childhood in Massachusetts and New Hampshire before attending college in Boston, where he met Jennifer. He works in Washington, D.C. for a health care trade association and enjoys reading, coaching youth basketball, fishing and biking. Randy has enjoyed serving with the Missions Committee on community outreach, leading a small group and helping lead a Sunday class, and serving in nursery. He and his family have been richly blessed in serving and growing in Christ's body at Cherrydale.

Robert "Greg" Duhart

Biography Info Coming Soon

Keith Hall

Keith was raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as his Savior when he was nine. He attended Carson Newman College in Tennessee, where he majored in Physical Education. Keith worked for Fairfax County Public Schools for thirty four years as a teacher and an administrator before retiring in 2010. He now works as a university supervisor for George Mason University, overseeing student teachers and as a fill-in administrator for Fairfax County Public Schools.

Keith began attending and joined Cherrydale in the fall of 1979 and met his wife, Laura, here. They have been married for 32 years and have two daughters, Ashleigh Lamkin and Lindsay Hall, both of whom served in intern positions at Cherrydale after their graduations from college. Ashleigh and her husband John are involved in several ministries at Cherrydale and are the parents of Mercy. Lindsay is currently serving with World Harvest Missions in Southall, England, ministering to the large Indian and Pakistani population in that suburb of London through a church planted there by WHM.

Steve Hensley

Steve Hensley first understood the call to “repent, for the kingdom of God is near” and to accept God’s Word as ultimate authority at age 18 with the help of a godly influence. Following music and language studies, Steve came to the DC area in 1996, joining Cherrydale a few years later. He enjoys serving with the missions and worship ministries, being part of a CBC small group, and helping with the Chinese Bible Study. He is captivated by the idea that God uses us as his ambassadors, calling people to “no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” He works in international trade compliance.

Steve King

Steve has been a follower of Christ since a young age, and has enjoyed the fellowship at Cherrydale for the past 17 years. He’s been active in the international student and worship ministries. He is married to Allison, who he met at Cherrydale, and they have two sons, Costya and Sergei. Steve is an attorney, practicing at a firm in Tyson’s Corner.

Jesse Lord

Jesse accepted Christ as his personal Savior at the age of six while his family lived up in Massachusetts. He really started to make his faith his own in Junior High, though, when he felt the Spirit of God descend on him at a retreat with his youth group. Since coming to Cherrydale in 1994 he was baptized in high school and subsequently became a member in August 2003. He volunteered in the youth ministry here from the summer of 1999 to the spring of 2010, and is now a member of the Young Adult Ministry's leadership team, in addition to being the ministry deacon. He and his wife co-lead a small group with another couple, which meets in Reston, VA and focuses on personal accountability and growing together in Christ-like character. Jesse has been married to his wife Suzie for over eight years (September 25th, 2004), has a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) and currently works for Booz Allen Hamilton in Herndon VA as a Business Analyst.

Daniel Pierson

Daniel grew up in a Christian home in Kansas City, MO, where he came to faith in Christ at an early age. He first began attending Cherrydale in 1998. He was immediately drawn to the sincere, Christ-centered worship and teaching. Daniel met his wife, Tracy, at Indiana University where they were both involved in The Navigators student ministry. They married in 1999 and have two children: Kevin and Audrey. Daniel co-shepherds a small group at Cherrydale and regularly serves with the worship team. As a deacon, one of Daniel's favorite responsibilities is leading the board in praying for church members. Daniel works as a Realtor and performs as a violinist with the Army Strings.

Brooke Roberts

Brooke was born and raised in Birmingham, AL and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior at a young age. After college, Brooke spent 5 years as an engineer in the U. S. Navy stationed in the Washington, DC area, where he attended Cherrydale and volunteered in the Student Ministry. After getting out of the Navy, Brooke heeded God’s calling to join the Cherrydale staff as the Sr. High Director/Student Ministry Director. He held this position for 3 years, but upon hearing the Lord’s calling to go back into engineering, Brooke was hired on as a government civilian with the Navy working for Naval Reactors. Brooke has continued to work with the Student Ministry, predominantly through teaching on Sunday mornings. He is married to his beautiful darling wife, Heather, and has two lovely children, Geena and Isaiah.

Jayson Roehl

Jayson accepted Christ as his personal Savior while in high school and was baptized shortly thereafter. He became a Cherrydale member in 1999 and has served in various Cherrydale ministries including as youth ministry volunteer, a Sunday school teacher, and a small group leader. Jayson and his wife Nina have been happily married for ten years. They currently serve together as Cherrydale marriage mentors and as nursery volunteers on Sunday morning. They are proud parents of two beautiful boys, Evan and Chase.

Jon Watada

Jon and his wife Joy live in Cherrydale with their three children, Mari (15), Caleb (13) and Kaemon (10). While Jon and his family have been attending and serving at Cherrydale for the past nine years Jon and his family were baptized and officially became members of Cherrydale Baptist Church in 2010. Jon, his wife and three children are believers and have served as a family in various capacities at Cherrydale including teaching children's Sunday school, preparing communion, participating in a local short term mission trip serving the people in Arlington County and serving in a week long mission trip to minister to the people of the Cherokee nation. This year Jon and his family are returning to Cherokee leading a group of other Cherrydale families to teach the Gospel and share the good news of Jesus Christ with the children of the Cherokee nation. Born in Chicago, the oldest of four children, Jon spent his childhood in several places around the country including Alabama, California and Louisiana. While Jon was in the seventh grade, Jon's family moved to Virginia, where Jon attended Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax. After high school, Jon attended James Madison University and graduated with a Computer Science degree in 1985. Jon and his wife moved to Cherrydale in 1992 and have been blessed with the opportunity to experience living in other places with their children including Israel, England and Hawaii. Although he was raised attending church on a regular basis, Jon truly came to know Christ on my own around the seventh grade. As a youth, Jon attended confirmation class conducted by a gracious minister where the gospel was shared and towards the end of the class the minister would ask if each of us was prepared to put our faith in Christ. As Jon transitioned from being a student and into adulthood, he continued to attend church on a more regular basis and attended a three day weekend “Walk to Emmaus”. The Walk to Emmaus provided Jon with a fresh understanding of having Christ’s presence in his life and the grace that comes with an intimate relationship of our Lord. For the next 25 years, the Lord has constantly reminded Jon of the love that He shares with His followers and the providence that can only come with a close relationship with the Lord.