Gardner C. Taylor collection

1918 June 18

Born in Baton Rouge, LA; the only child of Reverend Washington Monroe Taylor, a Baptist minister, and Selina Gesell Taylor, a homemaker and teacherReceived early education in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: 1st grade - Baton Rouge College (Baptist Normal School); 2nd – 3rd grades - Reddy Street; 4th -7th grades - Perkins Street Elementary School; and 8th-12th grades McKinley High School

1937

Received AB degree from Leland College, Baker, LA

1938-1941

Served as a pastor at Bethany Baptist Church, Elyria, OH

1940

Received Bachelor of Divinity from Oberlin Graduate School of Theology

1940 August 20

Married Laura Bell Scott (b.1916, d. 1995); there is one child, Martha Taylor LaCroix

1940-1943

Served as Pastor at Beulah Baptist Church,New Orleans, LA

1943-1947

Served as Pastor, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, LA

1948-1990

Served as Pastor of Concord Baptist Church, Brooklyn, NY

1958

Elected to the Board of Education of New York City

1961

One of the founding members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention

1966-69

Served as the second President of the Progressive National Baptist Convention

1969

Awarded Knight Commander, Order of African Redemption, conferred by Liberian President William V.S. Tubman

1973

Awarded the Order of Africa, conferred by President William R. Tolbert Jr., Republic of Liberia

1975

Duke University Divinity School establishes the annual Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series

1979 December 31

Named as one of the top seven preachers in the US. by Time Magazine and dubbed the “Dean of the nation’s black preachers”

1993 January

Delivered the sermon at the Inaugural Prayer Service for President William Jefferson Clinton

1993 November

Named by Ebony Magazine as one of “The 15 Greatest Black Preachers”

1995 January

Dubbed as “The Poet Laureate of the Pulpit” by The Christian Century

1996

Listed as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English Speaking World in a Baylor University Survey published in Newsweek Magazine

1996 July 30

Married Phillis Strong

1997 January

Offered the benediction at President Bill Clinton’s second Inauguration

2000 August 9

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’shighest civilian honor, conferred by President Bill Clinton

2003

Moved to Raleigh, NC

2007 October 15

Opening of the Gardner C. Taylor Archives and Preaching Laboratory at the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA

2015 April 5

Died in Durham, NC

Reverend Gardner C. Taylor is a widely acclaimed Baptist minister, recognized as a gifted orator, extraordinary religious leader, inspirational educator, and staunch civil rights activist. In 1979 Time Magazine named him one of the top seven preachers in the U.S. and proclaimed him the “Dean of the nation’s black preachers.” In 1993 Ebony Magazine named Rev. Taylor as one of the “15 Greatest Black Preachers.” He was cited in a 1996 Newsweek Magazine as one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English speaking world. His passion and eloquent phrasing when preaching earned him the title “poet laureate of American Protestantism.” He has given sermons and speeches throughout the United States and across the world including Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Japan, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia. He is the recipient of over 100 honorary degrees and has lectured and taught at numerous seminaries and divinity schools including Boston, Colgate-Rochester, Duke, Harvard, Howard, Princeton, Shaw, and Yale Universities, Union Theological Seminary and The Interdenominational Theological Center. In January 1993, Rev. Taylor delivered the inaugural sermon at the Prayer Service for President William Jefferson Clinton; and in January 1997 Taylor offered the benediction at President Clinton’s second inauguration. August 9, 2000, Rev. Taylor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Rev. Taylor served as pastor of the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York for 42 years until his retirement in 1990. Under his leadership the church membership grew from 5,000 to over 14,000; a new church was constructed at a cost of $1,700,000; an elementary school was erected and received full accreditation; a nursing home and a senior residence were built; and a Federal Credit Union and community endowment fund were established.

As a religious leader in the civil rights movement Rev. Taylor helped organize and led numerous actions including protests to end housing discrimination in New York City. He was arrested in protests to support minority building trade workers. He was a close friend to, and marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; and he led fundraising efforts in the North to support the civil rights actions in the South that King spearheaded. Issues on church involvement in civil rights actions led to a split within the National Baptist Convention and the formation of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC). King and Taylor were among the founding members of the PNBC, for which Taylor would later serve as the second president.

Rev. Taylor gave his leadership skills and service to other organizations as well. He served on the New York City Council of Churches, where he was the first African American and first Baptist minister to become President of the Council. He was Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Urban League of the City of New York; a member of the New York City Board of Education; and a leader of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn.

Gardner Taylor has been interviewed countless times for print media, radio, television, film, and church and educational programs. He is the author of numerous articles and several books including How Shall They Preach (1977), The Scarlet Thread (1981), Chariots Aflame (1988), We Have This Ministry (co-author Samuel D. Proctor, 1996), The Words of Gardner Taylor (6 volumes 1999-2002), and Perfecting the Pastor’s Art, Wisdom from Avery Lee and Gardner Taylor (2005).

Gardner Taylor died April 5, 2015 in Durham, North Carolina at the age of 96.