Ralph C. Duke was born in Franklin, VA. and raised and educated in the state of New Jersey. He received his undergraduate degree from Virginia State University, and his MBA from Rutgers University. Armed with an MBA in accounting in 1974, he had a very successful career that included working for such companies as Arthur Anderson, Johnson and Johnson USA Today, British Telecom, NBC and WETA TV & Radio station. God blessed Ralph to climb the corporate ladder to become a Chief Financial Officer and to be seated in corporate boardrooms.

A tremendous conversion occurred in his life when he received the call from the throne of God to preach His Word in 1985 at First Baptist Church in Vienna, VA. Soon thereafter, he was selected to serve as Pastor for Admini stration at Christ Fellowship Church (CFC) under the pastorate of Enoch Butler and the ministry grew from 52 people to over 500 people with close to million dollars in contributions by 1991.

During his tenure at CFC, Pastor Duke was responsible for evangelism and Mission outreach Since being called to ministry in 1985, he, and has constantly searched for creative ways to share Christ - from promoting Gospelfest in communities to establishing homeless, prison, senior, youth and food ministries. Pastor Duke has had a passion for missions and evangelism. Since 1991, he has been the facilitator or been part of a team for at least two foreign mission trips per year in countries including Haiti, Ghana, Liberia, Jamaica and St. Maarten. In 1995, Pastor Duke and his family moved to St. Maarten to assist the Pastor of the New Testament Baptist Church, and support a daily soup kitchen, start a Basketball Ministry, operate the number one secular radio station (Jam'n 94 7) in the capital, and fulfill the daily duties of pastor. Unfortunately due to a major hurricane, his wife and children had to leave the island while for over a year Pastor Duke assisted with the recovery. Upon his return to the United States in 1997, God called him to pastor Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church (BHMBC). God blessed BHMBC in 1999 to purchase a small under-utilized church building that BHMBC has utilized by the development of partnerships with Hispanic, African and other local churches. Pastor Duke and BHMBC continue to be involved as a facilitator for mission teams, support missionaries and students in Africa and the Caribbean, serve as one of the sponsors for a church plant in Atlanta and team with other mission minded groups across denominations.