About Us...

The members of the Cold Harbor Road church of Christ invite you to come and worship with us at your every opportunity. Our regular meeting times at 6856 Cold Harbor Road in Mechanicsville, Virginia are as follows:

• Sunday Morning Bible Study meets at 9:30 A.M.
• Sunday Morning Worship Period meets at 10:30 A.M.
• Sunday Evening Worship Period meets at 6:00 P.M.
• Wednesday Evening Midweek Bible Study meets at 7:30 P.M.

Our worship services are centered around what God has authorized. We worship according to God's imperatives and not "Man's Innovation." We seek to preach the gospel without veering either to the left or the right. We believe balanced preaching and teaching consist of preaching God's truth in love! We invite you to come worship with us.

From I-295, take Exit 34A (Creighton Road east). At the traffic light turn left onto Cold Harbor Road. A little more than a mile from this intersection, we are located on the right, across the street from Tuckaway Daycare Center.

Heading east from Richmond on 360, the Mechanicsville Turnpike, go through Mechanicsville past Walmart Supercenter and Shoney's. At the intersection of 360 East and Lee-Davis Road, turn right onto Lee-Davis. There will be a McDonald's to your right. About one mile down, there will be a traffic light. Proceed through this intersection, which will change names to Cold Harbor Road. The building will be on the left about another mile, past the Presbyterian Church and across the street from the Tuckaway Daycare Center.
 

OUR LEADERSHIP
 

William Burton

William (Bill) Burton previously served as a deacon at CHR. Bill is married to the former Geraldine Miller. They have two sons, Alonzo and Nathan. Bill was employed by the City of Richmond school system and taught Automotive Maintenance at the Richmond Technical Center. He retired in 1999. Brother Burton was in the United States Air Force for 20 years "and two days". He is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and worshipped with the church in DaNang. Bill is a renowned song leader and often preaches by appointment throughout central Virginia and beyond. He and Geraldine are very active in evangelism and visitation. Brother Burton's influence has endeared him to brethren throughout this part of the country and beyond.

James I. Dalton

Derell Ellerbe

Derell Ellerbe and his wife, Barbara, have four children, a set of twins (a boy and a girl) and two additional daughters. Derell has lived in the Richmond area since 1977. He was converted in 1963, baptized in Lakeland, Florida, by Gentry Stults. He is retired from Wyeth-Ayerst in Richmond and resides in the eastern part of Hanover County. Prior to serving as an elder, Derell served as one of our deacons. He earned his B.S. in chemistry from Central Florida University. From 1967-1969, he served the army as an Administration Specialist. He is a combat veteran, having served during the Vietnam War. Barbara, whose father was an elder at South Florida Avenue church of Christ in Lakeland, Florida, has done much work on our own curriculum and the organization of our lectureship.

Ron Herman

Ron Herman is a native "Richmonder." He and his wife, Charlene, have one daughter, Jillian, who is a student at Freed-Hardeman University. Ron is now retired, but previously served as a principal at Lucille Murray Brown Middle School in Richmond. They are one of the original families of CHR. Both Ron and Charlene are very active. They both teach Bible classes; Ron is also one of our primary song leaders and director of our Vacation Bible School. He was one of our deacons before becoming an elder. Another one of Ron's talents is in cooking. A CHR potluck wouldn't be complete without Ron's fried fish or a fried turkey.

Dave Young

Dave Young is originally from Tennessee. He served in the Navy and worked for A.H. Robins Co. until he retired. Dave is married to Kay and they have two sons, Dave, Jr. and Ken. Dave, Jr. is also a member at CHR. Ken lives in Tennessee. Dave is a former deacon and he and Kay are both very active at CHR. Dave teaches, participates in the worship services, and helps maintain the church property. Kay teaches, helps in the nursery, and helps with all activities involving serving meals to others including many special events. Dave is famous for his interest and knowledge in the Civil War.

OUR MINISTER

Ryan O'Rourke

Ryan is a native of the Tampa Bay area of Florida.  He married his wife, Kelly (also a Tampa Bay area native) in 2001.  Kelly is an elementary school teacher.  They do not have children yet, but have two dogs, Angus and Louis (pronounced Loo-ee, and named for hockey star, Martin St. Louis).  Ryan claims that these two “boys” are training him and Kelly well for parenthood.

Ryan attended the University of South Florida (Tampa, FL) for three years as a business major until making the decision to preach the gospel full-time.  He enrolled at the Florida School of Preaching (Lakeland, FL), where he graduated in 2002.  Ryan continued his education by earning a B.S. degree in Bible/Ministry from Southern Christian University (Montgomery, AL).  He plans to pursue a Master’s Degree in the near future.

Ryan’s first full-time preaching work was at the North River church of Christ in Parrish, Florida (2002-2004).  He and Kelly moved to Tennessee to work with the West Fayetteville church of Christ (Fayetteville, TN) from 2004 to 2006.  He began his work with the Cold Harbor Road congregation on January 1, 2007.

Ryan enjoys weight training and following sports, especially U.S.F. Bulls football and basketball.

Bill Snell

Bill Snell was our Minister of Evangelism for ten and a half years.  He retired as of January 1, 2010.  We will miss Bill and all the work he has done for Cold Harbor, but we know that no matter where he is, he will be working for the Lord.  Enjoy your next retirement, Bill!

The Cold Harbor Road church of Christ was started on August 3rd, 1983. It was a mission outreach of the Hermitage Road church of Christ in Richmond, Virginia and the Wood Avenue congregation in Florence Alabama. Six people, Roy (serving as the evangelist) and Virginia Meyer, Jim and Mary Ann Dalton, and Bill and Jewell Snell met for the first service on that day with 17 in attendance. The congregation at that time was called the Eastside church of Christ. We met upstairs in a real upper room which was so small in some places a good sized adult could not stand upright.

After purchasing our current property, we began meeting at the Tuckaway Child Care Center. Everyone who visited the congregation was gleefully dragged across the street to see our land and where we planned to build our building.

The members of the congregation completed our first building with many hours of sweat equity but it was a labor of love.

Our first worship service in our new facility was in 1989. During 1989 three men were appointed elders for the congregation, Jim Dalton, Bill Snell and Russell Young.

In 1996 the congregation built an education wing on to the building. The members did most of the work. It was completed on November 1st, 1997. On November 2nd, 1997 Cold Harbor Road hosted it's first annual Lectureship.

The average attendance of the Cold Harbor Road church of Christ for 2000 was 148 for our Sunday morning attendance. We are active in mission works both in and out of the United States.

You can learn more about our mission work on our missions page.

We have a strong youth program and classes for all ages. We have written our own Bible study curriculum for our Bible classes. You can learn more about our youth on our youth page.