Gardner C. Taylor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dr.

Gardner Calvin Taylor (born June 18, 1918) is an American preacher, noted for his eloquence and deep understanding of Christian faith and theology and known as "the dean of American preaching".[1] Taylor was a close friend and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. and played a prominent role in the religious leadership of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Taylor preached the pre-inauguration sermon in January 1993 for the then President-elect Bill Clinton at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Washington D.C. Taylor received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 9, 2000, awarded by President Bill Clinton.[2] Gardner Taylor was born in 1918 in Baton Rouge, the grandson of former slaves, and grew up in the segregated South of the early 20th century. He graduated from the Oberlin College School of Theology in 1940,[3] and began a lifetime of preaching and civil rights activism. Taylor was pastor of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York for 42 years, before retiring in 1990. During this time he helped to found the Progressive National Baptist Convention with Martin Luther King Jr., providing an important base of support for King's civil rights work.[1] More than 2,000 of Taylor's sermons are archived, and recordings of many of them are available in collections such as The Words of Gardner Taylor: 50 years of timeless treasures.

Gardner C. Taylor Archive and Preaching Laboratory The Reverend Dr. Gardner C. Taylor has been preaching the Gospel of God through Jesus The Christ for over half a century. He is a superb story-teller who brings the Gospel to life through the use of rich imagery and a powerful imagination. Dr. Taylor is considered by many to be the veritable Dean of Black Preachers in America. In light of Reverend Dr. Taylors legacy of preaching, the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is privileged to house his archives. The Gardner C. Taylor Archives and Preaching Laboratory will be a source for primary research being done by both masters and Ph.D. level students of Homiletics. The archive will house Dr. Taylors sermons (both written and recorded), lectures, books, and articles. Efforts will be made to digitize all resources currently found on hard copy so that students and researchers alike will be able to access them online while visiting the archives. The Gardner C. Taylor Archives and Preaching Laboratory is a smart classroom build in Dr. Taylors honour. It will be utilized by ITC students and faculty to deepen their understanding of the unique content, style, and nature of preaching in the Black Church Tradition and to examine the art of preaching that has grown up in and has come out of other religio-cultural contexts. Periodically, guest clergy will be invited to preach to a select group of clergypersons in the classroom. The sermons will be critiqued by the group and catalogued for use in the instruction of ITC seminarians. The public will have access to the archives to listen and view the sermons at regularly scheduled times. The schedule will be posted on the ITC website and throughout the campus community.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GARDNER CALVIN TAYLOR SENIOR PASTOR EMERITUS The Concord Baptist Church of Christ 833 Gardner Taylor Boulevard (formerly Marcy Avenue) Brooklyn, NY 11216 Gardner Calvin Taylor was born, June 18, 1918 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to The Reverend Washington Monroe Taylor and Mrs. Selina Taylor. He is married to Phillis Strong, a high school teacher (retired) and is the father of one daughter, Martha Taylor LaCroix. He earned the A.B. degree from Leland College, 1937 and the B.D. in 1940 from Oberlin Graduate School of Theology. Rev. Taylor holds honorary degrees and special citations from a litany of institutions of higher education including: Leland College, D.D. Benedict college, D.D. Albright College, D.D. Long Island University, L.H.D. Colgate University, D.D. Howard University, L.H.D. Wake Forest University, D.D. Oberlin College, D.D.

Oak Park Theological Seminary, D.D. Wagner College, L.H.D. State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, L.H.D. Alumni Citation for Influence as a Preacher- 1957, Oberlin College Presidential Medal, City University of New York, Brooklyn College Tuskegee University, L.H.D. Christian Theological Seminary, D.D. Notable among his many awards and recognitions is the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented to him, August 9, 2000, the Nations Highest Civilian Honor awarded by President William Jefferson Clinton. His international honors include the Star of Africa award, conferred by President William Tubman and the Republic of Liberia, 1969; and Knight Commander, Order of African Redemption, conferred by president William Tolbert and the Republic of Liberia, 1973. Dr. Taylors many years of pastoral ministry include Bethany Baptist Church, Elyria, Ohio; Beulah Baptist Church, New Orleans, Louisiana; Mount Zion Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and The Concord Baptist Church of Christ, Brooklyn, New York, where he served from 1948 to 1990. While at Concord, more than 9,000 members were added. The church was destroyed by fire in October 1952. A new structure was completed in April 1956 at a cost of $1,700,000. During his pastorate, the Concord Baptist Church Elementary School was established as a fully accredited elementary school, designed to give children at the earliest scholastic levels the disciplines that train them for leadership roles in society. Additionally, the Concord Nursing Home was equipped with 121 beds and an annual budget of $2,000,000; the Concord Cloth Exchange, Concord Federal Credit Union, Concord Seniors Residence and Concord Baptist Christfund, and Endowment for Community Uplift, were established. Dr. Taylor is a preacher of tremendous renown throughout the United States and around the world. He was the preacher or speaker for the Baptist World Alliance on numerous occasions - Copenhagen, 1947; Cleveland, OH 1950; London at Westminster Hall, 1955 for the Golden Jubilee; Miami Beach, 1965; and Tokyo, Japan in 1970. Other national and international preaching include: National Radio Pulpit National Broadcasting Company Series on 100 stations, 1959; Commonwealth of Australia; Easter Dawn Service (Radio City Music Hall); England and

Scotland (Auspices of the British Council and National Council of Churches); Union of South Africa (by invitation of Black South Africans); Republic of China; Central Africa (Zambia and Malawi); and Gardner Taylor Hour, Annual Preacher for the Progressive National Baptist Convention. His denominational affiliations include preaching for American Baptist Churches, Church of the Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Baptist Federation of Canada, United Presbyterian and Presbyterian U.S. (Southern), Baptist Union of Australia, and Church of God in Christ, Jamaica Baptist Union, and the Southern Baptist Convention. He is a former member of the General Council of the American Baptist Convention, Inc. and past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. In the area of community service, Dr. Taylor gave leadership to the Council of Churches, City of New York as the first African American and first Baptist president. He is a past Vice President of the Urban League of the city of New York, member of the New York City Board of Education, and was the Clergy Leader during the protest of discrimination by building trades in Brooklyn, NY, incurring two arrests with more than 600 clergy people and other citizens in 1963. Dr. Taylor is widely published. Articles include; Best Sermons, 1959; Preaching Biblically, The Cry of Freedom, Presbyterian Journal Interpretation, Some Musings on a Nation Under God, and Climbing Jacobs Ladder, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, spring, 1993. As an author, Dr. Taylor is without peer, penning How Shall They Preach, 1976, Lyman Beecher Lecturer, Yale University; The Scarlet Thread, 1981; Chariots Aflame, 1988; We Have this Ministry (with Reverend Samuel Proctor) 1996; Words of Gardner Taylor, Six volumes, Judson Press; and Wisdom, Avery Lee & Gardner Taylor, Judson Press. As a lecturer on preaching, Dr. Taylor has been Homiletics Lecturer, ColgateRochester Divinity School; Harvard Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary; Caldwell Lecturer, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary; Mullins Lecturer, Southern Baptist Seminary; Swartley Lecturer, Eastern Baptist Seminary; Greenhoe Lecturer, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary; Luccock Lecturer, Yale Divinity School.; Lyman Beecher Lecturer, Yale Divinity School; Sprinkle Lecturer, Atlantic Christian College; Northcott Lecturer, Southwestern Baptist Seminary; Homiletics Lecturer, Princeton Theological Seminary; Distinguished Professor of Preaching, New York Theological Seminary;

Distinguished Professor of Preaching, Shaw University Divinity School; and, Adams Lecturer, Southeastern Baptist Seminary. Following many extraordinary preaching engagements, Dr. Taylor often acquired recognition with some of the nations most revered media, such as: After King, Mandela and 42 Years, A Pastor Retires, New York Times, July 1, 1990; The 15 Greatest Black Preacher,, Ebony Magazine, November 1993; Inaugural Sermon, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, the inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton, January 1993; His Love Spring From an Eternal Well, Newsday, February 9, 1995; The Pastor Who Called a Summit, Newsday, September 18, 1990; Retirement Editorial, New York Times; The Pulpit King, Christianity Today, December 11, 1995; Gardner Taylor: Poet Laureate of the Pulpit, The Christian Century, January 4-11, 1995; Minister Spares No One in Speech, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, April 5, 1995; Heard Any Good Sermons Lately?, Newsweek Magazine, March 4, 1996; The 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English Speaking World, Baylor University Survey, 1996.

Dr. Gardner C. Taylor: Americas preacher turns 90 National Ministries communications associate, Carolyn Erwin-Johnson, interviewed Dr. Taylor at his North Carolina home recently. Read his reflections about the challenges facing American Baptist churches, the churchs responsibility in the face of human suffering, and more.

Dr. Gardner Calvin Taylor, one of the twentieth century's most celebrated preachers, turns 90 this month. In keeping with the modesty that has characterized much of his life, Taylor will mark his June 18 birthday at his home in Raleigh, N.C., with little fanfare, says his wife, Phyllis. But that won't discourage the good wishes and tributes paid to this beloved and legendary preacher who has touched the lives of so many during his half century in ministry. For 42 years, Taylor served as senior pastor at the 14,000-member Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y., one of the largest American Baptist churches in the United States when he retired in 1990. Concord gained a deserved reputation for its social activism and community outreach under the leadership of this faithful servant of God. Looking back over countless accolades and professional honors received throughout his lifethe Presidential Medal of Freedom notwithstanding Taylor considers "Sunday mornings in the pulpit at Concord" his greatest achievement. His successor and longtime protge, Dr. Gary V. Simpson, now Concord's senior pastor, reflects on Taylor's storied preaching: "Of all the contributions that Dr. Taylor continues to make to my life and ministry, I am most indebted to the sacred, serious discipline he modeled as preacher in the Concord pulpit. There is no question that the people of this congregation have a uniquely earnest expectation of any preacherto convey a word of life in a culture that portends death. It is overwhelming to think that his preaching is the high bar of what was normative and usual on Sunday mornings. His voice has unequivocally decreed, 'There is a Word from the Lord.'" Although Taylor is distinguished by his eloquence in the pulpithaving preached more than 2,000 sermonshis audiences were not limited to his Concord family. Taylor's sermons are still studied in schools of divinity throughout the country and abroad, and they continue to be read and listened to by an even wider audience, thanks to several books and recordings published by Judson Press. Today the lifetime sales of those resources approach $750,000. Taylor's longtime Judson Press publisher and friend, Laura Alden, recalls the generous spirit of this man: "Judson Press has been privileged to serve as Dr. Taylor's publisher for these many years. In addition to being a great preacher, pastor and author, Gardner Taylor is a gracious and generous man of God. The Judson Press staff who

have worked with him are readers, listeners and absolute fans of Dr. Taylor. We have relationships with all our authors, but this relationship is different it's in a special category. We are Baptists, so, of course, we don't officially have saints. But if we did, Dr. Taylor would be our top candidate. He has been a blessing to all of us." Taylor seems comfortable letting others speak about his "legacy." Perhaps the most important of his "earthly" tributes have come from peers. Certainly, being called "one of the greatest preachers in America" and the "dean of the nation's Black preachers" is no small achievement for a Louisiana-born itinerant preacher's son and grandson of slaves. It is also notable when pastors like the venerable Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., a legend in his own right, pay him homage: "With gentleness, modesty, wit and some humor, Dr. Taylor continues to mentor me, and many ministers in the generations after me, to work for excellence as servants of the church and as representatives of Jesus Christ." Although not initially brought up with American Baptist roots, as he puts it, Taylor "inherited" an American Baptist congregation in Concord, which became God's launching pad for his great success. Fellow pastor and National Ministries' Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III recounts Taylor's contributions to the Black church and Protestant tradition: "I am most appreciative to Dr. Taylor for his role in radicalizing the Black church and having a revolutionary impact on mainline Protestantism throughout the 1960s and beyond. His co-founding of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is still sending reverberations of racial justice and racial reconciliation across this land. I am proud to have benefited by and learned from his legacy." 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) Happy birthday, Dr. Taylor.

Rev. Gardner Biography Favorites Color Food Quote Time Year Red Gumbo Dont know. of Fall Jamaica

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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. Taylor was interviewed by The History Makers on March 5, 2002. Bibliography English, Merle. Clinton Lauds Pastor for Moral Compass. Long Island (NY) Newsday, 11 August 2000. Thomas, Gerald L. African American Preaching: The Contribution of Gardner C. Taylor. Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1993. Thurman, Howard, ed. Why I Believe There Is a God. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Co., 1965.

Gardner C. Taylor

Gardner Calvin Taylor, was born June 18, 1918, the son of the late Selina Taylor and famed early twentieth century preacher Washington Taylor, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the rustic countryside of Louisiana and in metropolitan Baton Rouge he observed his fathers ministry. Early, at age 13, his father died leaving him to the skillful care of his mother. He entered Leland College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Leland, during his senior year, he discerned his call to the ministry after a tragic car accident. Upon graduation, he entered the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology where he successfully, completed his studies earning a Bachelor of Divinity degree. His pastorates include Bethany Baptist Church in Elyria, Ohio, Beulah Baptist in New Orleans, The Historic Mt. Zion Baptist Church-his home church and pastorate of his father, in Baton Rouge, and the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. While at his pastoral success was remarkable. During his tenure, from 1948-1990, the Concord Church experienced tremendous growth. The Concord Church was rebuilt after a tragic fire in 1955 at the astounding cost of nearly $2,000,000.00. A credit union was established which now has over $ 2,000,000.00 in assets. A clothing exchange, nursing home, and elementary school are a few of the ministries that were created to serve the needs of the Brooklyn community. Nearly 13,000 people joined the Concord Church during the tenure of Gardner Taylor as pastor. As a Civil Rights leader, he led fundraising in New York on behalf of Dr. Martin Luther Kings southern Civil Rights movement. On the occasion of the first Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he delivered the Keynote Sermon and special gifts given by the people of New York City. He protested in New York supporting Hispanic and African Americans who suffered housing discrimination. He was arrested for public protest on behalf of minority/ building trade workers. Notably, he sought to move the National Baptist Convention, though his candidacy for president but fell short in a valiant effort to identify the largest African valiant effort to identify the largest AfricanAmerican Organization in the United States with the Civil Rights Movement. Further, his efforts to promote political and racial equality within New York thru his positions as the first African-American on the New York Public School Board; as well as one-time leader of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn; and as president of the Protestant Council of Churches, solidifies his place as one of the Titans of the Northern Civil Rights Movement. However, with the acknowledgement of Gardner Calvin Taylors remarkable success as an urban pastor and Civil Right leader, it is his remarkable gift as a

preacher, which has earned him a place among the pantheon of American preachers. His is a language, which bows to the glory of heaven, and the power of a living Lord. In him the scholarship of a professor; the language of a Shakespearean writer; the skills of an English Thespian and the tradition of radical progressive African-American preachers converge to form a preaching moment which transcends the ordinary and escapes into a world of the Spirit. His skills at proclamation have been honored by invitations to appear 5 times before the Baptist World Alliance, the first of which came at age 30. He received four invitations to be conference preacher at the Hampton Ministers Conference. Twice he served as National Radio preacher on NBC programs. He has been preacher to National denominational gatherings in seven nations around the world. He delivered the 100th Lyman Beecher lecture on Preaching at Yale. He has taught preaching at Harvard, Princeton, New York Seminary, Union, and Colgate Rochester. In 1979, Time Magazine named him one of the seven greatest Protestant preachers in America dubbing him, The Dean of the Nations Black Preachers. Twice Ebony Magazine has honored him as one of the IS greatest preachers in America. A Baylor University Surrey in Newsweek Magazine named him as one of 12 greatest preachers in the English Speaking world. Eleven Universities have conferred honorary degrees on him. In 1993, he delivered the sermon at the Inaugural Prayer Service of President William Jefferson Clinton. In 1997, he offered the benediction at the President Clintons second Inauguration. In August of 2000 A.D. President Clinton bestowed upon him the Nations highest Honor, The Presidential Medal of Freedom. Today, he continues to proclaim the Gospel thru writings, speeches, and a tireless preaching schedule. Source: Gardner C. Taylor Websitehttp://www.gardnerctaylor.com/index_files/about.htm (July 5, 2007)