DR. FREDRICK O. CHERRY, SR., PASTOR
My Story
Dr. Fredrick O. Cherry, Sr., is the 5th generation of preachers from the Cherry family, a family that is well known for their passion and love for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been a true believer from birth and at a very young age he accepted Christ as his lord and savior under the leadership of his father, the late great Pastor Charles W. Cherry Sr.
He was called to the ministry in 1996 and preached his first sermon “We Are Getting Careless with Our Love” at Beautiful Zion Missionary Baptist Church under the tutelage of the late Dr. V.B. Harris. After being ordained in 1997, Dr. Cherry returned to Holy Trinity Baptist Church to assist his father and to assume the role of youth minister.
Upon the passing of his father and after much prayer, Dr. Cherry accepted the position to serve as the Assistant Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ under the leadership of Dr. Charles F. Thomas Sr. Dr. Cherry served in this role until God called Dr. Thomas home from labor to reward on May 5, 2019. On June 23, 2019, God again poured out his blessing, by elevating Dr. Cherry to Pastor of this great Canaan ministry.
Today Dr. Cherry is an excellent teacher because of the foundation laid for him by his phenomenal mother, the late Gwendolyn Cherry, and his aunt Mrs. Dorothy Spears, as a young child they instilled in him the importance of learning and getting a good education. He has never stopped learning and has completed years of schooling, he received his high school diploma from Percy L. Julian High School, his Bachelors of Theology Studies from Chicago Baptist Institute International in Chicago, IL, his Masters of Ministry in Biblical Counseling and his Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership both from Andersonville Theological Seminary in Camille, Georgia.
Dr. Cherry is a native of Chicago, Illinois and is the youngest of six children. He is a Vice President and Team Manager for The Northern Trust Asset Management Company where he has been employed for over 25 years. As a life-long believer, he trusted what the word of God tells us in Proverbs 18:22: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord” so in 1997, he married the love of his life, Gretchen L. Grant. The Lord granted them favor by blessing them with two children, Brandon and Fredrick Jr.
As a faithful servant who desires to serve God’s people, Dr. Cherry wholeheartedly lives and believes what the bible says in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.”