Rev. Anthony Rhone

LaShai is married to Reverend Anthony Rhone who serves as the Assistant to the Pastor at Fairview.

Anthony Rhone
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As preachers go, Seth McDowell, Anthony Rhone and Tony Miller couldn't be more different.
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Rhone grew up attending a prominent Baptist church in northeast Oklahoma City and spent many years as assistant to the pastor.
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Rhone said he almost didn't accept the pastorship at Shawnee's Galilee Baptist Church because of his long-standing relationship with Fairview Baptist Church and the church's pastor, the Rev. J.A. Reed.

"It was really a struggle to let the familiar go, but I have no doubts that it was the right thing to do," he said.
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Rhone said the same of his new church, Galilee Baptist, 720 S Broadway in Shawnee.

"They've been nothing but warm and loving," he said of his new congregation.

Rhone said making the transition from the larger Fairview, with about 1,200 members, to the smaller, Southern Baptist Galilee, with 50 to 75 active members, was a big adjustment.

But he said his wife of 21 years, LaShai, had an even bigger transition to make: Reed, Fairview's senior pastor, is her father.

"I haven't done this by myself.It was probably 10 times more difficult for my wife," Rhone said.
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Rhone said he wrestled with the idea of becoming Galilee's pastor.He said the church's previous pastor had worked at General Motors and, when the Oklahoma City plant closed, decided to seek out-of-state employment opportunities within the company.

Rhone said about a week before he made his decision on the matter, he preached a message at Fairview based on the parable of the talents.

He said God spoke to him through that sermon about the importance of using one's God-given gifts to sow seeds of faith.

"From the flesh side, everything was against me wanting to go.But God said if you can't be faithful with little, you can't be faithful with anything else.It's kind of one of those things that if you are really going to test your wings, you have to get out of the nest," he said.

The family, which includes daughter Tonia, 11, made its way to Galilee Baptist, where Rhone was installed as pastor Memorial Day weekend.
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Meanwhile, Rhone is chronicling his new move in a blog, mainly because he wants to be able to look back on this experience and reflect how God has worked through it.

"There is so much tied up into this that I wanted to chart it," he said.

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