Pastor Ray Jordan is a trailblazing preacher, teacher, academic, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and consultant to churches, non-profits, corporate entities, and institutions of higher education. As an ordained United Church of Christ clergyperson, Ray is formerly the Senior Pastor of Central Congregational UCC in Dallas, TX (serving as Central’s first African American and openly gay senior minister in its 120-year history), formerly the President of the North Texas Association of the UCC (it’s first African American president) and is currently the Lead Pastor for First Community UCC of Dallas (serving as First Community’s first openly gay and African American senior minister in its 73-year history).
Ray has worked within three distinct populations, rural, suburban, and urban, and has enjoyed community engagement, therefore he has served on a number of local and national boards, including the North Texas Executive Leadership Council for the United Negro College Fund, for which he received the organization’s Rising Star Award for his outstanding contribution.
Considering himself a scholar-practitioner, his education and vocational experiences have been a testament of interdisciplinarity, demonstrating a marriage of theory and praxis, faith and practice. For example, Ray has worked as a public-school teacher, university professor, non-profit administrator, corporate trainer, clergyperson, and consultant in areas of conflict mediation, organizational development as well as diversity and inclusion. Having led civil and human rights experiential learning opportunities for over 15 years, Ray continues to be a sought-after preacher, speaker, workshop leader and facilitator in the areas of difference (race, class, gender, sexuality, etc.) and cultural competency.
Although Ray is originally from Oakland, CA, he was raised by his grandmother on a farm in rural Arkansas, where both she and other “church ladies” stressed the importance of education. Hence, Ray holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Education, a Master of Arts in Teaching, a Master of Theological Studies from Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology and is completing his PhD (ABD) from Union Institute and University, with research in public policy, faith communities and social change with a concentration in Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies.
In addition to serving as a community activist and local church pastor, Ray is also an academic, having taught Philosophy and World Religion for Dallas College, Interdisciplinary Studies and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington and Political Science at Southern Methodist University. Currently, Ray teaches courses in Human Rights and Social Justice for both the Graduate Liberal Studies and Human Rights Programs at SMU when not spending time with his three children, Trey, Alley and Joshua Caleb.
