Our Pastor

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

Committed to education Rev. Boyd holds a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management and Business from Georgia Southern University and a Master of Divinity from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University.

Professionally he was Senior Manager of Organizational Impact for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. As a member of the Senior Leadership team Rev. Boyd contributed to the organizational strategy engaging African American clergy and emerging leaders in racial justice. Previously, he was the Justice Reform Organizer at Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. He also served as the Economic Justice Organizer. Additionally, he was a graduate fellow of The GIFT Collaborative of Black Theological Education & Black Faith Traditions (The Collaborative).

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

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