MINISTERIAL STAFF
REV. REGINALD & VENITA FREY
Associate Pastor and Wife
Rev. Reginald Frey served as the senior pastor of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church West for 15 years. Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church West is located in Dayton, Ohio and serves the west side community.
After graduating from Springfield High School in 1983, Rev. Frey served his country in the United States Army from December 1983 to October 1991. During his time in the Army, he lived in Germany, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas. He gained the rank of Sergeant during his military career, and received various accommodations as a good soldier in the Army.
After being honorably discharged from the United States Army, Rev Frey, took a position with the United States Postal Service where he worked for 30 years. Soon after, he relocated to Dayton, Ohio and united with Good Samaritan Baptist Church (Dayton, Ohio), where in August 2001 he accepted God’s call on his life to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This was just the beginning of the divine call on his life. In January 2006, he was selected by Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church (Dayton, Ohio) to serve as the Youth Pastor.
Rev. Frey is often seen as a humble and quiet man who lives to please God by loving, leading, and lifting the people of God into the things of God. To this end, Rev. Frey knows and understands that a call to preach & pastor is a call to preparation.
He has a drive and passion for the academy and has taken the A.T.E.P. classes sponsored by Payne Theological Seminary and has also matriculated in the Bachelor of Science program; school of Social Work at Wright State University with a minor in religion.
He is now in the process of working on his Masters in Divinity at Virginia Union University since Feb 2022.
He has also been enrolled in the CPE Program (Chaplain) at Kettering Hospital since September 26, 2022. He has obtained all four units of CPE and is now preparing for board certification.
He is blessed with a 38-year-old helpmate, Minister Venita Frey. From this union, God has blessed them with three daughters (Jasmine, Shaneese, and Ikea), three granddaughters (ShaMyra, Alyce, and Ryleigh Monae), and one grandson, Julius.
He was also the caregiver for his mother, Alice Marie Frey, in Springfield, Tennessee, who was a faithful member of Mt Pleasant Baptist Church until her passing on March 15, 2024.
After serving faithfully for 15 years as the Pastor of the Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church, Reverend Frey has now heard the Lord's voice again for his new assignment as the Pastor of the Harvest Grove Missionary Baptist Church ( Dayton, Ohio).
Rev. Frey loves God and lives by this premise: “We don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).
REV. ROBERT J. JACKSON
Pastor Emeritus and Wife
In May 1994, Pastor Robert J. Jackson was called to pastor Harvest Grove with 100% of votes for the first time at Harvest Grove. Pastor Jackson came with much love for the people. He gave his time and talents, as well as his money. He never asked the church to do anything without leading the way. He encouraged us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we build God’s church. He set the example for us here at Harvest Grove by teaching us to love one another as God loves us all. It had not been easy for Pastor Jackson, but he continued with his beautiful wife (Evelyn Jackson) to teach us how to love one another by teaching God’s word and his example of love toward his congregation. Pastor Jackson retired on December 31, 2014, after 20-plus years of service. Although retired, Pastor Jackson continues showing his passion and dedication to the Harvest Grove family by remaining an active pastor emeritus.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
REV. EDNA LEWIS
Associate Minister
As many of you may know, I have always believed in the importance of studying to achieve a certain status, as it is a requirement for ministry knowledge. This belief is deeply rooted in the Bible, which lauds studying so we may rightly divide the word of truth. I firmly believe that one of the greater truths the Christian minister absorbs within her/his spirit is the profound teachings of Matthew 25:31-36.
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Reverend Lewis, a trailblazer in her own right, graduated with a Master of Divinity from Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. She has broken barriers and paved the way for others as the first female chaplain at the Dayton VA and the first Protestant chaplain at St. Elizabeth Hospital. She became a member and associate minister at Harvest Grove MBC Dayton, Ohio, in 2011.