Reverend
Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson
The
Reverend Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson is Senior Pastor of
the 4000 member Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New
York. Though Richardson is regarded both nationally and
internationally as a religious leader, his career interests
and competence has gone far beyond relgious circles alone.
He is a national advocate for economic equity and his counsel
and advice is widely sought in some of the major corporate
boardrooms of the nation. A community builder and organizer,
he has been involved in the brick and mortar realities of
housing development and is predominately responsible for
leveling the ground in public education in the Mount Vernon
community.
Dr.
Richardson is a graduate of Virginia Union University (BA),
Yale Divinity School (M. Dir.), and holds an earned doctorate
from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio (D. Min)
in African-American Studies with a specialization in Community
Development. Currently Dr. Richardson is an Adjunct Professor
at United serving as Mentor for his second cohort of doctoral
candidates (1996-2001).
A
man of intuitive reason and an incisive mind, he has been
able to demonstrate in his person the marvelous wedding
of passion and intellect. His conceptual prowess is generously
complemented by his analytical skills. It is the embodiment
of his persona that had catapulted him to leadership
positions too numerous to recite. Along the way he has served
for twelve years as the General Secretary of the 8 million
member National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. which service
thrust him into the international arena of the World Council
of Churches where he served on the prestigious Central Committee.
The World Council represents more than 400 million Christians
in 150 nations.
Dr.
Richardson is a board member of the Congress of National
Black Churches, the Constituency for Africa and the Institute
of Church Adininistration and Management headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia. He is a trustee of the National Urban
League and his alma mater, Virginia Union University
in Richmond, Virginia.
Widely
traveled in Europe, Richardson is frequently in the Middle
East, on the African continent and just recently returned
from an extensive visit in the Far East that included the
Peoples Republic of China and South Korea.
Dr.
Richardson is married to the former Inez Nunnally and they
are the parents of three adult children.
