Johnny ray youngblood biography of william

Church leader

Earned Preaching License at Age 12

Faced a Spiritual Dilemma

Supported a Housing Development

Aimed His Ministry at Black Men

Sources

When the Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood arrived at Brooklyn’s St.

Paul Community Baptist Church in 1974, it had a dwindling congregation, an empty collection plate, and a community vision that reached no further than its chapel doors. The surrounding neighborhood—described by one of Youngblood’s colleagues in the New York Times as “one of God’s Alcatrazes”—had been dismissed by city politicians as a violent wasteland.

Within ten years, the charismatic preacher and his extraordinary ministry had transformed both the church and the community around it into a thriving oasis. By 1993 St. Paul’s boasted A 5,000-member congregation, a staff of 57, and an annual operating budget of more than $3 million.

In addition to drawing scores of young black m