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 Rev. Dr.
Gardner C. Taylor, born on June 18,
1918, as the only child of an educated mother
and a Baptist preacher father in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, Gardner Calvin Taylor began on the
path that would eventually lead to becoming the
influential senior pastor of the Concord Baptist
Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. His
peers named him the greatest African American
preacher and one of America's greatest preachers
in Ebony in 1993. President Bill Clinton agreed
in 2000 when he bestowed upon Taylor the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Despite his background, Taylor was agnostic
until his involvement in a 1937 car accident in
which a white man died. Consequently, he
enrolled in the Oberlin Graduate School of
Theology in 1937, where he met and married Laura
Bell Scott. They have one daughter, Martha.
While still in school, he preached at Bethany
Baptist Church in Oberlin, Ohio, from 1938 to
1941.
Taylor actively advocated civil rights as pastor
for four churches. He sought the presidency of
the National Baptist Church Convention in 1961,
and after losing, he and his followers formed
the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
Taylor taught at prominent divinity schools,
including Harvard and Yale. Now senior pastor
emeritus of Concord, he has traveled extensively
around the world and uses all his experiences in
his preaching.
These days Dr. Taylor devotes some of his time
to mentoring aspiring seminarians and young
preachers and the rest to combing through his
exhaustive collection of writings, interviews,
speeches and sermons for materials that will
become part of his archive.
When asked what
scripture passage he would choose for his final
sermon, Taylor responded without hesitation in
that full-throated, resonant, vibrato that is
his trademark: "Now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But
we know that when he appears, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John
3:2)
 Rev.
Dr. B.W. McClendon, Sr.'s
magnetic personality, blended with an explosive
delivery style, has drawn audiences nationwide
for more than three decades to hear his spirit
filled sermons. He has emerged as one of the
most influential spiritual leaders of this
generation. As Pastor of the St. James Baptist
Church his priority is expansion through
evangelism.
Billy Wayne
McClendon, Sr. was born in Mt. Enterprise, Texas
on August 10, 1951. He is the baby of twelve
children born to LeOra McClendon and the late
LeRoy McClendon, Sr. He was raised in a devout
Christian family environment, with strong moral
values. It was these strong and deep-rooted
values that led him to answer his call to the
ministry.
He received a
Bachelor of Arts Degree from Le Tourneau
University in Longview, Texas; a Political
Science Certification from the University of
Texas in Tyler, Texas; a Masters in Theological
Studies from Perkins School of Theology at S.M.U.
in Dallas, Texas and from Perkins he received an
earned Doctorate of Ministries in 1999.
He
and his lovely wife of over thirty years,
Bernetta, founded the Maranatha Marriage &
Family Ministries, International to help
strengthen marriages and families. He has been
pastor of the St. James congregation for
thirteen years after stops in Marshall, Texas at
the Canaan Baptist Church, Longview, Texas at
the St. Paul Baptist Church, and Terrell, Texas
at the Bethlehem Baptist Church. His love for
preaching the uncompromising word of God has
gained him the notoriety of being "a pastor with
a heart for the people".
He
and his lovely wife of over thirty years,
Bernetta, founded the Maranatha Marriage &
Family Ministries, International to help
strengthen marriages and families. He has been
pastor of the St. James congregation for
thirteen years after stops in Marshall, Texas at
the Canaan Baptist Church, Longview, Texas at
the St. Paul Baptist Church, and Terrell, Texas
at the Bethlehem Baptist Church. His love for
preaching the uncompromising word of God has
gained him the notoriety of being "a pastor with
a heart for the people".
He
is currently serving as the National Director of
the Men's Conference and is the Associate Dean
of the National Congress. He has always pushed
for men to be the "prophet, priest, provider,
and protector of their family". On March 5, 2006
he led his congregation into a new six million
dollar, 31 classroom, 2500 seat worship center.
Pastor McClendon is the proud father of 5
children. Rev. B.W. McClendon Jr.,who is married
to Robbie McClendon, Athena LaShawn McClendon,
Rev. Demetrius DeWayne McClendon,who is married
to Alexis McClendon, Kristina Michelle McClendon
and Davina Denese McClendon. Davina went home to
be with the Lord in 1998. He is also the proud
grandfather of Yasmine Jenel McClendon, Billy W.
McClendon III, Dara Denese Reed, Mackenzie Alon
McClendon, Michaela Annise McClendon,
Christopher Earl Simon McClendon and Sarai Rose
McClendon.
 Rev.
Dr. Reginald High is
the pastor of Beavers Chapel Christian Church,
Zebulon, North Carolina, where he has served
faithfully for the last eight years. Dr. High is
also a native of Zebulon, North Carolina. He is
the son of Dorothy Lee High.
Dr.
High received his Bachelor of Science Degree in
Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, NC. He earned his Master of
Divinity Degree from Shaw University Divinity
School, Raleigh, NC. Dr. High received his
Doctor of Ministry Degree from Campbell
University Divinity School, Buies Creek, NC. For
the last two semesters, Dr. High has served as
an adjunct Professor of Homiletics at Shaw
University Divinity School.
Under
the leadership of Dr. High, Beavers Chapel
Christian Church has revived its Youth ministry
and its Outreach ministry. The church has
implemented a Children’s Church ministry, a
thriving Tutorial ministry, a constantly growing
Food Pantry ministry, an 8-station Computer Lab,
and a partnership with the local Middle School’s
CIS (Community In Schools) Tutoring and
Mentoring program. The church is doing all of
this, by the grace of God, with less than 100
members. To God be the Glory!
Dr. High is committed
to the community in which he pastors. He
works with the Eastern Wake Faith Partnership,
which seeks to connect resources of the faith
community with the rest of the community. In
addition, he works with the Eastern Wake Human
Capital Initiative, which seeks to bring
families out of poverty. He also is a member of the Eastern Wake Ministerial
Alliance and a member of Shaw’s Annual
Alexander/Pegues Ministers’ Conference Planning
Committee.
Above all else, Dr.
High is eternally grateful to have had the
opportunity to form a binding relationship with
Gardner C. Taylor. In Rev. High’s own words, "I
do not believe that anyone has ever found or
will ever find in this life a better friend,
mentor, and father than the one God has given me
in Dr. Taylor."
Rev.
Dr. Stephen Thurston
is the 14th President of the National Baptist
Convention of America, Incorporated
International (NBCA). - The second largest
association of African-American Baptists in the
United States with 1.5 million members. He is a
distinguished History Maker as the youngest
elected President (September 2003) and youngest
appointed executive cabinet officer for fifteen
years (1989-2003) as 3rd Vice President. He held
the position of Corresponding Secretary for
three (3) years. Under his recent leadership the
Convention has expanded its horizon by welcoming
thirteen churches from Nassau, capital city of
the Bahamas, into the organization. In 2004,
NBCA renovated and established Headquarters in
Dallas, Texas at a previously acquired building.
In 2008, The E. Edwards Jones Polytechnic School
and Theological Seminary in Ghana, West Africa
was completed and the Convention’s name evolved:
National Baptist Convention of America,
Incorporated International
~Global Missions Introducing The World To
Jesus Christ
Rev. Thurston is a Third Generation and Senior
Pastor of New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church
in Chicago, Illinois following in the footsteps
of his father, Rev. John L. Thurston and
grandfather, Rev. Elijah Thurston. On
Resurrection (Easter) Sunday 1971 he delivered
his first sermon “When Did You Die.” He was
appointed Assistant Pastor on Resurrection
Sunday 1974 and Co-Pastor on Resurrection Sunday
1978. He became the Spiritual Shepherd in 1979
upon the passing of his father. God has
continued to show favor upon the Thurston
family, as Rev. Thurston currently shares
pastorate responsibilities with his son Rev.
Stephen J. II, Co-Pastor. He is a highly
acclaimed Revivalist spreading the Good News of
the Gospel “Jesus Saves!” In 2008, he
completed Vision 2000: a $13
million building project of a new church worship
center.
President Thurston serves
on the Boards of National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and
African American Religious Connection (AARC).
Other religious and social commitments include
Chairman of Finance for Chicago Baptist
Institute, member of Rainbow / PUSH Coalition,
Broadcast Ministers Alliance of Chicago &
Vicinity and John Marshall Harlan High School
Alumni Association.
Thurston holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Religion from Bishop College Dallas, Texas. In
August 2008, he enrolled in the Master of
Divinity program at Shaw University, Raleigh,
North Carolina. He holds honorary doctorates
from Temple Bible College and Seminary
Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago Baptist Institute
Chicago, Illinois; and St. Thomas Christian
College Jacksonville, Florida. He was featured
by Dollar and Sense magazine as
“America’s Best and Brightest Young Business
Professional Man,” in 1987. President Thurston
joined other religious leaders as one of
Ebony Magazine’s “100+ Most Influential
Black Americans,” in May 2004. In 2007,
Thurston published his first book
Attitude: The Paintbrush of the Mind.
His second book is in the planning stage
entitled My Father's Business.
Rev. Thurston resides in the Chicagoland area
with his wife Joyce D. Thurston and their four
children: Rev. Stephen J. II, Nicole D’Vaughn,
Teniece Rae’l and Christon Avery Elijah.
Reverend Dr. Stephen J. Thurston’s testimony is
“God Has Done Great Things For Me!”
 Rev.
Debra Haggins O'Bryant is the First
Female Executive Secretary of the Hampton
University Ministers' Conference and the First
Female Chaplain of Hampton University. She is a
member of First Baptist Church Denbigh located
in Newport News, Va.
Prior to her arrival at
HU, Haggins served as the interim pastor of the
historic Queen Street Baptist Church in Norfolk,
Va. From 2002-2006, she served as associate
minister and director of the women’s ministry at
Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church in
Norfolk. Prior to that, she served as assistant
to the chaplain and faculty advisor to the
Student Christian Association at HU. Haggins
has also had a successful professional career
with the Virginia Beach City Public School
System and the Norfolk Public School System.
A native of Millen, Ga., Haggins earned a
bachelor’s degree from Paine College in Augusta,
Ga. She received a Master of Science in
secondary school administration and the
certificate of advanced graduate studies from
Old Dominion University. She earned a Master of
Divinity in theology degree from The Samuel
DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia
Union University and is currently pursuing the
Doctorate of Ministry degree from Norfolk
Theological Seminary.
 On
June 1, 1989, the
Rev. Dr. James
Alexander Forbes, Jr.
was installed as the fifth
Senior Minister of The Riverside
Church. Forbes is the first
African-American to serve as
Senior Minister of one of the
largest multicultural
congregations in the nation. He
is an ordained minister in the
American Baptist Churches and
the Original United Holy Church
of America.
Dr. Forbes served from 1976-1985 as the Brown
and Sockman Associate Professor of Preaching at
Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
From 1985-1989 he was Union’s first Joe R. Engle
Professor of Preaching. Union named him the
first Harry Emerson Fosdick Adjunct Professor of
Preaching in 1989, when he accepted the
pastorate at Riverside. Dr. Forbes also serves
on the Core Teaching Staff at Auburn Theological
Seminary in New York.
In their March 4, 1996 issue, NEWSWEEK magazine
recognized Forbes as one of the 12 “most
effective preachers” in the English-speaking
world. He was designated as one of America’s
greatest Black preachers by Ebony magazine in
1984 and 1993. Forbes won the Alumni Charter Day
Award of Howard University for Distinguished
Post Graduate Achievement In Ministry. In 1995
he emerged in the Baylor University Survey as
one of twelve remarkable and most effective
preachers in the English-speaking world.
Dr. Forbes has earned three degrees and has been
awarded 13 honorary degrees. He earned a Doctor
of Ministry Degree from Colgate-Rochester
Divinity School in Rochester, NY, in 1975; a
Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological
Seminary in New York City, NY, in 1962; and a
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Howard
University in Washington, D.C., in 1957. He
earned his Clinical Pastoral Education
Certificate from the Medical College of Virginia
in Richmond, VA, in 1968.
For 1992 to the present, Dr. Forbes has been
co-chair of A Partnership of Faith, an
interfaith organization of clergy among New
York’s Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim
communities. He is on the board of
Manhattanville College, the Interfaith Alliance,
Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement,
and the United Way. He is a consultant to the
Congress of National Black Churches and past
President of The Martin Luther King Fellows. In
October 2000, he received the prestigious Earle
B. Pleasant Clergy of the Year Award from
Religion in American Life and delivered the
Raymond J. Peterson Lecture. In 2000, Dr. Forbes
also accepted board appointments to: The Values
Institute of America, The Bertram M. Beck
Institute on Religion and Poverty at Fordham
University, and The Mailman School of Public
Health at Columbia University. In April 2001,
Union Theological Seminary presented Dr. Forbes
with the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award, and
in May 2003, Teachers College awarded him their
Distinguished Service Medal.
On June 1, 2007, after 18 years
of service, Forbes officially
retired from this position to
become president of the Healing
of the Nations Foundation, a
national ministry of healing and
spiritual revitalization.
Forbes
hosts the radio program
The Time
Is Now,
which airs weekends on the
Air
America Radio
network.
Born in 1935 in Burgaw, North Carolina, Dr.
Forbes is married to Bettye Franks Forbes,
formerly of San Antonio, TX. They have one son,
James A. Forbes III.
 Rev.
Dr. Urias Beverly
is an associate professor of pastoral care and
counseling and the director of the doctor of
ministry program for the Ecumenical Theological
Seminary, a religious institution that provides
education for ministry that is grounded in the
Christian tradition, while welcoming interfaith
dialogue. In these capacities, Dr. Beverly is
responsible for numerous and diverse duties such
as mentoring, recruiting, administration and
compiling the seminary’s handbook. Dr. Beverly
is also an accomplished and acclaimed minister
who began his ministry at the age of six.
Following a distinguished career in the United
States Army, Dr. Beverly attended Indiana
Central University where he earned a Bachelor of
Arts degree then went on to complete his
graduate studies at Butler University, earning a
Master of Arts degree. Dr. Beverly then earned a
Master of Divinity degree and a Master of
Ministry degree from the Christian Theological
Seminary. Since his ordination as a Baptist
minister at the age of 24, he has served at many
churches including Riverside United Methodist,
Stone of Hope Nondenominational Church and Grand
River American Baptist Church. In addition to
his parish ministry, he has acted in pastoral
care and counseling roles, serving as a hospital
chaplain, pastoral counselor and family
therapist. Dr. Beverly is past president of the
Association of Clinical Pastoral Education and
is the author of The Places You Go: Caring for
Your Congregation Monday through Saturday. Dr.
Beverly is married and has five children and
eight grandchildren. In his spare time, he
writes music, poetry and plays and enjoys
travel.
In recognition of an exemplary career as
associate professor of pastoral care and
counseling and the director of the doctor of
ministry program for the Ecumenical Theological
Seminary, Dr. Urias Beverly was included in the
2008/2009 Princeton Premier Registry alongside
the most accomplished business leaders and
professionals of every industry from around the
globe.
 Rev.
Dr. Sir Walter L. Mack, Jr.
was formally educated at Elon College in Elon,
NC (Bachelor of Arts – Mass Communications),
Duke University in Durham, NC (Master of
Divinity) and United Theological Seminary in
Dayton, OH (Doctor of Ministry), He completed a
continuing education program at Harvard
University which focused on economic development
and community revitalization where he was both a
pupil and invited guest preacher. He was also a
guest lecturer and round table participant at
Oxford University in Oxford, England that
focused on the role of religion in education and
the government. Dr. Mack currently serves six
students as their academic advisor and
theological mentor through the doctoral program
at United Theological Seminary which focuses on
developing leadership for effective programming
ministry in the Post-Modern Era.
Released by
Harrison House Publishers in October of 2005,
Dr. Mack’s book Passion for Your Kingdom
Purpose is transforming the lives of
believers and framing the Kingdom of God for the
unchurched. Mack’s other publications and
national media highlights include: The
African American Pulpit Journal,
Ministries Today,
an international Christian magazine interview on
The Harvest TV talk show, internationally
syndicated live, as well as various other
national radio stations.
Dr. Mack has also
appeared on Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) on
numerous occasions proclaiming the gospel of
Jesus Christ in various forms.
Mack was cited as
one the top 20 preachers under 40 by the
African American Pulpit Journal. He is the
recipient of numerous awards including the NAACP
Community Service Award, Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity– Man of the Year, Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity – Community Excellence Award, The
Chronicle – Man of the Year Award,
Martin Luther King, Jr. “Dare to
Make a Difference Award,” and Fox 8 News
“Content of Their Character” Award. He serves
on numerous boards anc commitees.
Dr. Sir Walter Lee Mack, Jr. is a native of
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is the son of
Mrs. Frances Mack and the late Rev. Dr. Sir
Walter Mack, Sr. His ministry is centered on
prayer, dynamic worship, study, fellowship and
evangelism. Because of his enthusiastic love
for Christ and his selfless love for his people,
Dr. Mack is committed to letting his light shine
so that men may see his good works but glorify
God.
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Shaw University Divinity School
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