Filled with excitement, the Rev. Dr. Jamall Calloway, a theologian and scholar in Black liberation theology, has answered the call as pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Northeast, D.C.
“My prayer is that I can successfully contribute to the legacy of this church by providing it with ways to further its social relevance,” Calloway told The Informer. “[Plymouth] has been a responsible church historically and I don’t want to get in its way. I just want to assist it, give to it, participate in it, and help open more of its doors to the community.”
Calloway succeeds the Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor emeritus of Plymouth and an activist, who led the church for more than three decades, while also working hard to improve life for all District residents.
“Plymouth made a good choice,” said Hagler, who retired from Plymouth. “[He is] a choice that brings the academy to the pulpit, can break down history, lest we forget, and merges the pastoral with the political, and the prophetic with praise.”
The new pastor’s hope is to further Plymouth’s more than 140 years of welcoming all to the church, helping the community and empowering people through engagement and ministry.
“We are a church that sits next to you and says ‘we understand,’ to whatever it is. For too long, our churches have been machines for shame and ridicule. We have lost a lot of goodwill in the public because of our behavior and our stances,” Calloway said. “But at Plymouth, we want to continue to do things differently. We want to be the church of grace, compassion, understanding, and help.”
Calloway’s Journey to Plymouth, Black Liberation Theology
Calloway earned a PhD in Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he studied under Dr. James Cone, considered the father of Black liberation theology.
“As one who studied under James Cone, Cornel West, and Emilie Townes, the way I approach ministry is by recognizing that those fields of thought have shaped and guided my understanding of who God is and how to read not only the Bible, but life itself,” Calloway told The Informer.
He has taken his knowledge about Black liberation theology with him in his ministry throughout the nation.
After his ordination in the American Baptist tradition in 2013, Calloway began serving as the summer minister for the Church of Christ in Mount Washington, Massachusetts.
After finishing his postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University in Rhode Island, Dr. Calloway became a professor of theology at the University of San Diego and the Director of Christian Education at the Congregational Church of Chula Vista.
He served in that position until he accepted the call to serve at Alpine Community Church in Alpine, California.
Now that he is at Plymouth, Calloway has also been hired as a professor of theology and religious studies at Georgetown University.
The pastor looks forward to continuing to pass down his experiences, lessons and wisdom with his students and congregation.
“I bring my formation to every aspect of ministry. And what that means is, I have a deep hermeneutic of suspicion when it comes to seeing how power is leveraged through religion and worship,” he explained. “My goal is to not only be mindful of that persistent conflation, but to preach and teach that white supremacy, pain, suffering, and God, are not inherently intertwined in the ways we’ve been taught.”
George Reid, chairman of the search committee for a new pastor, said he appreciated Calloway’s background and thinks it will be a strong fit for Plymouth.
“I liked him because he is a PhD student in systematic theology and this is the same degree that Dr. King had,” Reid said. “He will be able to carry on a tradition of liberation theology and at the same time, because of his age, he will appeal to younger people.”
Propelling Plymouth Forward
Amid nationwide challenges such as: federal job losses, eliminations of diversity, equity and inclusion programming and African Americans disproportionately affected by health, economic and education inequities, Calloway hopes Plymouth is a beacon of light for the community.
“I want the church to matter, not only to its members, but to those living nearby in the community. I want the building itself to mean something, to symbolize something,” said Calloway, who also comes to Plymouth with his wife Alexis Calloway and daughter Genevieve Loretta. “As the minister, I want to participate in and organize social programs at Plymouth that help the community.”
Further the pastor is looking forward to guiding Plymouth as its members, Washingtonians, and people nationwide navigate political shifts and social challenges.
“There is so much pain and suffering in the world that I just want us to be a part of the healing. I want us to be a force for good,” he told The Informer. “I want God to be proud of what we are doing, and I know the biblical claim to doing that is to simply show how good God is through our service and our humility. We are not a church that condemns or that sends people to hell.”
