Rev. Dr. Percel O. Alston

Percel Alston served as General Secretary of the United Church of Christ’s Board for Homeland Ministries (BHM) with responsibility for the Division of Christian Education. His many other positions at BHM included, Secretary for Leadership Development and Educational Career Development; Director of Educational Field Programs; Chairperson of the Racial Justice Priority Team; a member of the Public Education Issue Group and as Secretary of Black and Urban Church Development. Alston served the National Council of Churches as a member of the Executive Committee for Education,  Church Life and Mission. He was Director of Christian Education and Youth Work for the Convention of the South. He served as pastor of Midway Congregational Church in McIntosh, Georgia.

Rev. Dr. Pamela June Anderson

Pamela June Anderson served as Associate Association Minister, Western Reserve Association, Ohio Conference. She was Senior Pastor at Mayflower UCC and Associate Pastor at Plymouth UCC in Detroit. She also served as Interim Pastor at Faith UCC in Dayton, Ohio, and as Interim Pastor at First United Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Xenia, OH. Anderson  has authored and published several books, papers and articles on African American Christian History and Perspective. While a Navy Reserve Chaplain, she founded the National Restoration to Military Families Team which provided education, human resources and social services to disaster relief personnel and to combat survivors and their families. 

Helen I. Barnhill

Helen Barnhill has been involved in the United Church of Christ for many years at both the national and local level. She served as Moderator of the National United Church of Christ.  She has also presided over the Biennial General Synod of the Church in Pittsburgh and on the Executive Committee of the Southeast Association of the Wisconsin Conference. She is a member of the Plymouth UCC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Rev. Yvonne Beasley

Yvonne Beasley served as moderator of the Second  National Meeting of United Church of Christ Women in Milwaukee, WI.  She served as Associate Conference Minister of the Eastern North Carolina Association, Southern Conference.  She was a member of the Board of Trustees of  Franklinton Center, Inc. and Elon College in North Carolina, both UCC related institutions.

Mr. Ralph Beverly

Ralph Beverly, lay member of Lincoln Temple UCC, and one of the founding members of United Black Churchmen.  The name was later changed to United Black Christians. Ralph was very active at Lincoln Temple serving in many of the decision-making positions including moderator.  He was also active in the Potomac Association and the Central Atlantic Conference.

Dr. Erna Bryant

Erna Bryant was a member of the committee that established the United Church of Christ Insurance Board.  She was also Vice Moderator of General Synod, and Moderator and Vice Moderator of the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. Her service to the Conference included the Church and Ministry Commission; the New Church Development Commission; the Commission on Women and was chair of the Conference Board of Directors. Bryant was chair of Visions ’91, the first financial campaign in the history of the Conference. She also serve as Moderator and Vice Moderate for the Georgia/South Carolina Association

Rev. Geoffrey A. Black

Reverend Stephen W. Camp

Stephen Camp is the Conference Minister of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ. He previously served on the denomination’s national staff as Associate Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries. He also served as President of Ministers For Racial and Social Justice. He has also served as Executive Director of South Side Health Project of the UCC, Illinois Conference.  Camp was pastor of Lincoln Memorial UCC in Chicago, Illinois and  Senior Pastor at Faith UCC of Dayton, Ohio.

Rev. Dr. W. Sterling Cary

Sterling Cary was pastor of the first interdenominational church built in a housing project located in Brooklyn, New York, when the Uniting General Synod took place in 1957.  Cary encouraged the Homeland Board to mobilize African American clergy at the l963 Synod. He has served as President of the National Council of Churches, and was the first African American Conference Minister of the Illinois Conference. 

Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr.

Benjamin Chavis was Executive Director of the Commission For Racial Justice, United Church of Christ following the retirement of Charles Cobbs.  In 1971 Chavis was one of ten civil rights workers accused of firebombing a white-owned grocery store during a period of unrest over school segregation.  When CRJ’s board resolved to defend the “Wilmington Ten” in court, some local UCC church withdrew their support. Chavis spent over four years in a North Carolina prison before being released on bail with money raised by the UCC. Chavis later became Executive Director of the NAACP.

Rev. Dr. Charles Earl Cobb

Charles Cobb was Executive Director of the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice. He convinced the UCC  to “do what was right” by financially supporting “The Wilmington 10.”  Cobb was the first religious leader to focus national attention “environmental racism,” the practice of dumping toxic waste poor communities.  He was founder of the National Conference of Black Christians, a founding board member of Trans Africa, and a board member of the United Black Fund.  While serving as pastor of St. John’s UCC in Springfield, Massachusetts, he ran for mayor hoping to end discrimination in the school system.

Rev. Arthur Lawrence Cribbs Jr.

Rev. Dr. Yvonne V. Delk

Yvonne Delk was the first African American woman to be ordained in the United Church of Christ. In 1981 she was elected Executive Director of the Office for Church in Society. Prior to this position she was  director of Urban and Black Church Education for the UCC’s Board For Homeland Ministries. She also served as Associate for Constituency Development for the Office for Church in Society and in the Affirmative Action Office. In 1989 she was nominated as a candidate for the Office of the President of the United Church of Christ. Delk also served as Executive Director of the Chicago Renewal Society.  She was a member of the World Council of Churches serving as the chair of the Council’s program to combat racism.

Rev. Dr. Edwin R. Edmonds

Edwin Edmonds attended Boston University School of Theology where he met a student named Charles Cobb, the two became life-long friends. Edmonds became a Board member for the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice. While teaching at Bennett College he served as President of the local NAACP and became a target of the Ku Klux Klan with cross burnings and hate letters and harassing phone calls. In 1963 Edmonds stood behind Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial as King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Edmonds served as pastor of Dixwell Congregational Church UCC, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Rev. Dr. H. Joseph Evans

Joseph Evans was elected the third President of the United Church of Christ in 1976.  His election by the General Synod was to fulfill the remaining term of President Robert V. Moss who died in office. Evans was serving as national Secretary of the UCC, a position he had had since 1967, when he became President. Evans served as President of the UCC for one year, his term ending on September 30,1977 . From 1946 to 1947 Evans was Associate General Secretary for the Connecticut Council of Churches. From 1960 to 1964 he was President of the Urban League of Chicago. Evens served churches in New York City, Chicago, and Cleveland, Ohio.

Rev. Dr. Arthur D. Gray

Arthur Gray was appointed President of Talladega College in 1952, making him the first African American to head that AMA institution. He also served as Moderator of the Middle Atlantic Conference of the Congregational Christian Churches.  His name was placed in nomination at the 12th General Synod to serve as President of the United Church of Christ.   He was pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Washington, D.C., and Park Manor Congregational Church in Chicago, Illinois. Gray served as President of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the NAACP.

Ms. Edith Guffey

Edith Guffey is Associate General Minister and one of  the United Church of Christ’s five-member Collegium of Officers. She was elected to a second term in 2003 by General Synod 24. In her capacity as Association General Minister Guffey is responsible for administration of the Office of General Ministries.  She was first elected an Officer of the of the United Church of Christ in 1991 when she became Secretary of the UCC. Before joining the national setting of the church Guffey was an administrator at the University of Kansas.

Rev. James Hester Hargett

James Hargett was Director of the United Church of Christ’s Black Church Empowerment Program, and Secretary for Black Ministers on the Council for Church and Ministry. e paHe    He was a member the Pilgrim Hymnal Committee. Hargett was Associate Minister at Church of the Crossroads UCC in Honolulu, and Senior Minister at the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship UCC in Los Angeles. During this time he was the West Coast Convener of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Hargett also marched from Selma to Montgomery with Martin Luther King, Jr. and later coordinated the Poor People’s Campaign in Los Angeles.

Judge Margaret Haywood

Margaret Haywood, laywoman, prominent jurist, first African American woman Moderator of the General Synod, United Church of Christ.

Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson

Bernice Powell Jackson served as Executive Minister for Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ.. She was previously Executive Director of the denomination’s Commission For Racial Justice. She was director of the Bishop Tutu Scholarship Fund in the United States. Currently, Jackson serves as President of the North American Region of the World Council of Churches. 

Toni Killings

Toni Killings was the Director of the Washington, D.C. office of the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice (CRJ). Through CRJ’s Leadership and Development and Training Program Killings helped mobilized the United Black Christians and the Ministers for Racial & Social Justice. She was director of CRJ’s  Higher Education Program, which she designed and implemented as a response to the critical need for an educational thrust in the African American community. This program eventually served over seven thousand students in several states. In 1985 Killings represented CRJ at the International Women’s Conference in Kenya, East Africa.

Rev. Theodore S. Ledbetter

Ted Ledbetter hosted the organizing convention of  United Black Churchmen, later changed to United Black Christians.  He served 22 years as senior pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, Washington, DC.  He was very active throughout the denomination.  He also served as pastor of Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, New Haven, CT; Plymouth Congregational Church,  Louisville, KY; and First Congregational Church, Macon, GA.

Rev. Dr. Clyde H. Miller, Jr.

Clyde Miller was the first African American to serve as a Conference Minister in the United Church of Christ.  As Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference he provided leadership to over 95 churches in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.  He later served on the Executive Council and was chairperson of the Finance and Budget Committee. He earlier served as Executive Officer of Boston’s Missionary Society where he developed programs for the city’s poor.  Miller served as pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd and Kenwood Church, both in Chicago, Illinois.

Rev. Ervin Milton

Ervin Milton is the Director of Franklinton Center.  The Franklinton Center at Bricks is a conference, retreat, and educational facility in eastern North Carolina with a focus on justice advocacy and leadership development. The Franklinton Center is an historic center of transformation where issues affecting the marginalized the oppressed, and the poor are addressed.  Rev. Milton is pastor of  Union Chapel UCC in Burlington, NC.

Rev. Marilyn Moore

Marilyn served as Associate Director of the UCC Commission for Racial Justice and staff team for the Coordinating Center for Women.  She was consultant to the Council on Racial and Ethnic Ministries.  Her involvement included work with the New York City Health Crisis at Riverside Church and she was ecumenical worker with the National Council of Churches.

Dr. Annie W. Neal

Annie Neal has served as Parliamentarian /Associate Moderator of eight General Synods.  She was  Chairperson of the Transition Team for the Coordinating Center for Women.  Neal chaired the Search Committee of the Central Atlantic Conference which resulted in the selection of its first African American Associate Conference Minister.  She was a long time member of Plymouth Congregational Church in Washington, DC.

Rev. Vertie Powers

Vertie Powers has served on the national staff of the United Church of Christ as Minister of Evangelism for Church Development and Renewal. She has served as Associate Conference Minister for the Eastern North Carolina Association in the Southern Conference. She also served as Educational Field Placement at the United Church at Chapel Hill, NC, where she helped to found a gospel known locally and abroad as the Voices of Praise.  Powers has served as Interim Minister at Twelfth Street Christian Church in Washington, DC and as Pastor at Fellowship Christian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Rev. Dr. Kwame Osei Reed

Kwame Osei Reed is Association Minister for the Potomac Association, Central Atlantic Conference, United Church of Christ. In this capacity Osei Reed is Executive Officer for congregations in the National Capital Area. As chairperson of the Potomac Association’s South Africa Task Force, Osei Reed organized a convocation in Washington, D.C. with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He has served on the faculty of Oberlin College and in the Legal Studies Department at the University of Pittsburgh. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at Yale Law School.

Rev. Dr. Charles Shelby Rooks

Shelby Rooks served as Executive Vice President of the UCC Board for Homeland Ministry. As leader of the denomination’s largest Instrumentality Rooks implemented a plan of establishing 15 new congregations per year.  Rooks also served as President of the Fund for Theological Education, and was President of Chicago Theological Seminary. He also served on the Board of the National Council of Churches Department of Ministry, Division of Church and Society and Commission for Higher Education. He was pastor of Lincoln Memorial Temple UCC in Washington, DC and interim pastor at several other UCC congregations.

Ms. Valerie E. Russell

Valerie E. Russell was elected in 1992 to the position of Executive Director of the Office for Church in Society, United Church of Christ.  Prior to this appointment Russell was President of the UCC-related City Mission Society of Boston, serving from 1981 to 1991. She was the first woman and first lay person to head the 189-year old Mission Society. Russell was a frequent speaker throughout the country on justice and religious issues and was a weekly panelist on the “Show of Faith,” a WBZ-TV program. She was a member of Andover Newton Theological Schools Board of Trustees, and team taught an urban theology course at Harvard Divinity School.

Rev. Dr. Rueben A. Sheares II

Rueben Shears served as Executive Director of the United Church of Christ’s Office for Church Life Leadership from 1973 to 1988.  He was responsible for providing spiritual and educational resources to UCC congregation. Sheares was a widely sought after preacher and served as pastor of Park Manor Congregational UCC in Chicago, Illinois.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth B. Smith, Sr.

Kenneth Smith served as the Chairman of the Executive Council of the United Church of Christ. He was a member of the UCC Peace Priority Team which traveled to Eastern Europe on a peace mission. Smith was co-editor of Issues in the Quest for Denominational Identity. He served for 14 years as President of Chicago Theological Seminary and was chair of the UCC Council of Seminary Presidents. Smith was the organizing pastor of the Trinity UCC, and was the Senior Minister of Good Shepard UCC in Chicago, Illinois. 

Rev. Bennie E. Whiten, Jr.

Bennie E. Whiten was Conference Minister of the Massachusetts Conference.  In 2005 he was named Acting Executive Minister of the Wider Church Ministries. He served as  Deputy Executive Director of Metropolitan Mission in New York City, and as Associate Executive Director of the Community Renewal Society in Chicago, Illinois.  He was pastor of First Reformed UCC in Cincinnati, Ohio.  

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

Jeremiah Wright is Senior Minister of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Under his leadership the congregation grew from 87 members to more than 8,000, making it the largest congregation in the UCC. Wright is a sought after Revivalist through out the country. He has served as Executive Director of the Chicago Center for Black Religious Studies and as Associate Professor for the Cluster of Theological Schools. Wright has received three honorary Doctor of Ministry degrees, including one from the University of Monrovia in Liberia, Africa. 

Rev. Andrew J. Young

Andrew Young was a top aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement, and served as Vice-President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  He was the first black since Reconstruction to serve in the House of Representatives from Georgia. President Carter appointed Young U.N. Ambassador in 1977.  He also served two terms as Mayor of  Atlanta.  He later became President of the National Council of Churches. A product of the United Church of Christ’s American Missionary Association tradition, Young’s first pastorate was Bethany Congregational Church in Thomasville, Georgia.