The Rev. Dr. Homer Henderson

Denomination: United Church of Christ (UCC)
Organization: Claremont United Church of Christ, Claremont, CA

The Rev. Dr. Homer "Butch" Henderson is retired after having served 20 years as Senior Pastor of the Claremont United Church of Christ, Claremont, CA.

He was the longest tenured pastor in the history of Claremont's first established church. For 15 years he was also an adjunct faculty member of Claremont School of Theology.

A United Church of Christ minister in full standing and the first ecumenical appointee of the United Methodist Church, Butch earlier served pastorates at St. Andrew's United Methodist in New Haven, CT; First United Methodist in Ropesville, TX; St. Matthew United Methodist in Lubbock, TX; and Plymouth Congregational UCC in Lawrence, KS.

Butch earned his BA from Southern Methodist University, his M.Div. from Yale (where he was awarded the Preaching Prize), and his D.Min. from Drew University.

Dr. Henderson has been active as a community leader, serving as president and treasurer of the Claremont Ecumenical Council, a board member of the Claremont Rotary Club, and a member of the Claremont City Dialogue Planning Committee, among many other organizational roles. He was instrumental in bringing the offices of the Foothills AIDS Project to Claremont UCC and has been the leader of World AIDS Day Services in Claremont since their inception.

He and his wife, Rosemary, are both from Lubbock, TX (where they played in the high school band with Buddy Holly). They have three children and five grandchildren.