Vernon Howard, Jr., D.Min.
Coordinator of Justice and Sustainability at the Center for Faith and Culture; Distinguished Lecturer
Contact Info
Education
B.A. William Jewell College
M.Div. Central Baptist Theological Seminary
D. Min. Virginia Union University
Biography
The Reverend Dr. Vernon Percy Howard, Jr., a native son of Kansas City, is a faith leader, educator, activist, and civil and human rights leader now serving as president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and senior pastor of the Historic St. Mark Church.
As a civil and human rights leader, he has been at the forefront of movements in the region to successfully advance causes and initiatives such as medication expansion in Missouri, a living wage ordinance in the City of Kansas City, Missouri, local law enforcement reform and accountability, and economic justice through the initiative known as Central City Economic Development program which focuses upon reinvestment into marginalized urban areas. In addition, his prophetic leadership spawned the renaming of major thoroughfares in Kansas City to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
His academic work has included teaching within the Africana Studies Department of the University of Arizona in Tucson and Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas.