Rev. Bruce Persons

Bruce L. Persons is Lead Pastor of the Table Church, C&MA Chaplain at Gallaudet University, and Pastor of Deaf Ministries with the Mid-Atlantic District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance.

After becoming Deaf from bacterial meningitis at 10 months old, Bruce found himself between two different worlds: Hearing and Deaf. His entire family was hearing but immediate family members could communicate with him in American Sign Language. He was immersed in the Deaf World as a student at Maryland School for the Deaf. He attended hearing and Deaf churches during his formative years.

Bruce was lovingly pursued by God who drew Bruce to Himself until he surrendered his life to Christ at the age of fifteen. Called to full-time Christian ministry during his senior year in high school, Bruce has been serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people since preaching his first sermon at in 2006. Bruce has ten years of combined experience as a youth leader and director with Youth for Christ’s Deaf Teen Quest ministry and Deaf Fellowship’s youth ministry at the Frederick Church of the Brethren. He has served as a consultant for several Deaf youth ministries in America.

Bruce holds an AS degree in Business Administration from Hagerstown Community College (2007) and a BA degree in Management from Hood College with a concentration in finance and a minor in economics (2009). He became the first Deaf student to graduate with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in 2015. Among his achievements at Beeson, Bruce was honored at graduation with the Most Distinguished Student Award given in recognition of outstanding and holistic achievement in scholarship, Christian spirituality, and ministry involvement. He also served as Beeson’s Student Government Association president in 2014-2015 and was the first recipient of Beeson’s League of Churches scholarship award in 2012. During his undergraduate career, Bruce was inducted into four different honor societies for Business, Management, and Economics disciplines, and was listed on the Dean’s List for eight consecutive semesters. In 2004, he received his Eagle Scout rank from the Boy Scouts of America.

In his free time, Bruce likes to be with people, watch movies, travel, and read novels. When he has some free time, he engages in woodworking and outdoor recreational activities like fly fishing, running, biking, swimming, and hiking. Bruce currently resides near Frederick, MD with his wife and three children.