It is with a heavy, yet grateful and blessed, heart that we – at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. – share that the Rev. Dr. Gayraud Wilmore, pastor, teacher, preacher, educator, historian, and theologian made his transition to be with the ancestors on Saturday, April 18, 2020.
Dr. Wilmore was a charter supporter of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) and a recipient of the annual “Beautiful Are Their Feet” Award in 2005.
The Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers, general secretary of the SDPC, offered, “A mighty spirit and library has fallen into the arms of our all-knowing and Sovereign Lord. We know our brother has made the journey into
“amani,”
perfect peace. Dr. Wilmore’s many notes of encouragement are in our archives. We thank him for all he has bequeathed to our care.”
Dr. Wilmore was a global architect of Black liberation theology, author of sixteen books,
including
Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of Religious History of Afro-American People
(1979). I
n 1966, Wilmore co-founded the National Conference of Black Churchmen, which became the largest ecumenical organization of pro-black power clergy
. After co-editing
Black Theology: A Documentary History Volumes I and II
(1979) with James Cone, the two became the quintessential collaborators in the creation of a discipline and providing a foundation for organizational development, including the Black Theology Project.
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, Dr. Wilmore was a member of the drama club and wrote for the student newspaper for his high school. While a student at Lincoln University, he was drafted into the Army during World War II and became a member of the Buffalo Soldiers.
In 1944, Dr. Wilmore married his beloved wife, Lee, who preceded him in death in 2015.
After the war, he returned to Lincoln and received a Bachelor of Arts degree (1947) and Bachelor of Divinity degree (1950).
Ordained into the ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), Dr. Wilmore was active in the Civil Rights Movement, even as he served as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Westchester, PA.
He was a key figure in school integration in that city, and as Executive Director of the United Presbyterian Commission on Religion and Race, he helped organize and train ministers who would participate in the Civil Rights Movement’s work in the South.
Dr. Wilmore’s love of learning led him to the academic world. He was a professor of Social Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and later at Boston Theological Seminary. From 1974 until 1983, he was the professor of Black Church Studies at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, served as Dean of the divinity program at New York Theological Seminary and later taught Church History at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Georgia. Dr. Wilmore was the recipient of many awards and honors, and, in 2019, the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
LPTS’ President Alton Pollard declares Dr. Gayraud Wilmore as “one of the most consequential faith and thought leaders of recent generations.”
The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A Wright hailed Dr. Wilmore as a pastor, preacher and scholar who inspired him to give his best in both the academy and the parish
. “His total commitment to his calling showed me and the world what it meant to be a Black minister in the African diaspora who loved God, his family, his neighbor, ecumenism, the Church Universal, people of other faiths and people of no faith,” said Dr. Wright.
Rest Well, Dr. Wilmore. We offer our sincere prayers and condolences to the Wilmore family.