The Rev. Gerald Williams
Denomination: United Methodist Church (UMC)
Organization: Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, NY
Gerald Lamar "Jay" Williams, Jr. is the 2009 recipient of the David H. C. Read Preacher/Scholar Award given by Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, NY.
Jay is a provisional elder and pastor of Glendale United Methodist Church in Everett, Mass. Before his ministry at Glendale, he was the assistant pastor of Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in Harlem, NY.
Jay is a Ph.D. candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where his research in theology and ethics focuses on Spirit and the church. He has particular interest in African religions and black identity in diaspora. He received the Master of Divinity degree with top honors from Union Theological Seminary in New York (2009) and a B.A. magna cum laude in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard College (2003). Prior to Union, Jay was an assistant vice president in the private banking division of Merrill Lynch.
As an activist and public speaker in the modern-day abolitionist movement, Jay has twice traveled to Sudan, Africa, to help free slaves and document the effects of genocide. He is also involved in numerous community, United Methodist, African-American, and ecumenical ministry initiatives.
Day1 Weekly Programs by The Rev. Gerald Williams
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Irrational Exuberance
Tuesday August 17, 2010
At the core of the Christian faith, says the Rev. Jay Williams, is an irrational exuberance--a sense of profound goodness that defies human cognition. There is good news even in the shadow of the cross.
Video by The Rev. Gerald Williams
The Rev. Gerald "Jay" Williams - Day1 Conversations with Peter Wallace
Thursday August 19, 2010
The Rev. Gerald "Jay" Williams, recipient of the 2009 David H. C. Read Preacher/Scholar Award, joins us at Day1 and discusses his path to the ministry from pre-med at Harvard, the calling throughout his life, and his time in Sudan as part of the modern movement for the abolishment of slavery.