Our Pastor

Rev. Jamar A. Boyd, II was elected to serve as the 17th pastor of Kenwood United Church of Christ in August 2022. He also currently serves as the Associate, Office of the President at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Rev. Boyd's commitment to education is evident in his Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and Business from Georgia Southern University and his Master of Divinity from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Furthering his professional engagement, he was a graduate fellow of The GIFT Collaborative of Black Theological Education & Black Faith Traditions (The Collaborative).

Prior to his current roles, Rev. Boyd held the position of Senior Manager of Organizational Impact for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc., where he was a member of the Senior Leadership team and contributed to the organizational strategy of engaging African American clergy and emerging leaders in racial justice. He also served at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy as both a Justice Reform Organizer and an Economic Justice Organizer.

Acknowledging his call into the gospel ministry in 2014, Rev. Boyd was licensed at Agape Worship Center in Statesboro, GA, where he served as Pastoral Assistant. Before attending seminary, he served as Director of Youth Ministry at Saint Smyrna Baptist Church in Newnan, GA, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Tamarkus T. Cook, Sr. While in seminary, he gained further ministerial experience by serving as Pastoral Assistant – Student Intern to Rev. Dr. Anthony M. Chandler, Sr. at Cedar Street Baptist Church in Richmond, VA, and at Dominion Church Of God In Christ in Portsmouth, VA, under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Clarence L. Sellers, Jr.

From 2014 to 2019, Rev. Boyd served as an officer and later as President of the Georgia State Conference NAACP Youth & College Division. During his presidency, he participated as a panel and program participant at the 2018 Environmental and Climate Justice symposium, a program participant at the 2018 National Convention in San Antonio, TX, and the 2019 National Convention in Detroit, MI. He was also certified as an NAACP National Electoral Trainer. In 2019, he was the recipient of the inaugural “Charles & Adrienne White Student Activism Award.” As an undergraduate and seminarian engaged in “the call to the public square,” Rev. Boyd participated in the 2018 Progressive National Baptist Convention Annual Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. Later, he served as Youth Works Chairman for the Georgia State Conference NAACP from October 2019 to February 2022.

Rev. Boyd is a featured contributor in Preaching During a Pandemic: The Rhetoric of the Black Preaching Tradition, Volume I (Studies in Communication, Culture, Race, and Religion). Further compositions are available online with Abernathy Magazine, Baptist News Global, Faithfully Magazine, Faith and Leadership, Medium, and Sojourners Magazine. His service is noted as member of the Board of Directors for The Oikos Institute for Social Impact and Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council. Additionally, he is a member of the Social Justice Ministry of The Church Of God In Christ, Inc. and the Religion & Society Collective of the Aspen Institute. With a commitment to Black theological education he serves as a consultant to The Collaborative.