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| Richard
W. Wills, Sr., PhD. |
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Richard Wayne Wills, Sr., Pastor of First Baptist Church, Hampton, Virginia,
has been professionally active as an architect, educator and minister.
He is a graduate of New York Tech, Old Westbury, Long Island with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture. He received the Master of Divinity
Degree (Cum Laude) from Virginia Union University, School of Theology,
Richmond, Virginia in 1985 and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the
University of Virginia, August 2003. From September 1986 to May 1987 he
was a Doctor of Ministry Student, Urban Studies at Howard University Divinity
School, Washington, DC and completed his Doctoral Studies with a
dissertation in the area of "Effective Pastoral Leadership by Social Activist
Pastors", at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio May 1997.
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He completed his Ph.D. in Religious Ethics at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA May 2005.
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Prior to accepting his call to First Baptist
Church, Dr. Wills served as the Assistant Pastor of Canaan
Baptist Church of Christ during Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker's pastoral
tenure, as the Senior Pastor of Dexter
Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama and
Pilgrim Baptist Church, Richmond,
Virginia. During his years at Dexter he co-authored a work entitled
"Reflections on Our Pastor: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1954-1960".
In addition to having published several sermons, his most recent
essay "Annihilation, Retaliation, Reconciliation and the Pursuit
of Justice: An Ethical Reflection" was published in a collective
work entitled "9-11-01: African American Leaders Respond to
an American Tragedy". His latest work entitled "Martin Luther
King, Jr. and the Image of God" is due to be published by Oxford
University Press, Spring 2009. He is currently engaged in his
next publication entitled "The Pastor King" which is scheduled
for release by Abingdon Press Winter 2010.
Former teaching tenures include assignments at Selma University,
Selma Alabama, J. Sergeant
Reynolds Community College, and Richmond technical Center, Richmond,
Virginia and most recently
taught as an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and Ethics
at Virginia Commonwealth University and Hampton University.
He is a March, 1995 inductee to the Morehouse College, Martin
Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers and as a delegate of the
Progressive National Baptist Convention he has lectured and
preached in London, England on the occasion of their annual
European gathering. He has served on numerous Boards and is
currently serving as an Advisory Board member of The African
American Pulpit, our nation’s most prominent Black preaching
journal.
Richard is the husband of Sheila D. Martin of Lottsburg, Virginia,
whom he met in Seminary, and to whom he has been married for
twenty-three years. They are the parents of four children: sons,
Richard Wayne, Jr. and Reginald Dexter; and daughters, Whitney
Denise and Michele Sheila. An ordained clergy person, he is
a member of the American Baptist Convention, the Progressive
National Baptist Convention, the American Academy of Religion,
and is a life-long advocate for justice and equality.
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