Raphael Warnock

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The Reverend Doctor
Raphael Warnock
Personal
Born
Raphael Gamaliel Warnock

(1969-07-23) July 23, 1969 (age 54)
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
ReligionChristian
Spouse
Oulèye Ndoye
​
​
(m. 2016; sep. 2019)​
Children2
DenominationBaptist
Political partyDemocratic
EducationMorehouse College (BA)
Union Theological Seminary (MDiv, MPhil, PhD)
Organization
ChurchEbenezer Baptist Church
WebsiteCampaign website

Raphael Gamaliel Warnock (born July 23, 1969) is an American pastor and politician. He has been the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta since 2005. Warnock came to prominence in Georgia politics as a leader in the campaign to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A member of the Democratic Party, he is running in the 2020 U.S. Senate special election in Georgia for the seat now held by Kelly Loeffler.

Early life and education

Warnock is from Savannah, Georgia. He grew up in public housing as the 11th of 12 children born to Verlene and Jonathan Warnock, both Pentecostal pastors.[1] His father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he learned mechanics and welding and subsequently opened a small car restoration business where he restored junked cars for resale.[2]

Warnock graduated from Sol C. Johnson High School[3] and, having wanted to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse College, where he earned a B.A. in psychology.[4][5] He credits his participation in the Upward Bound program in making him college ready, as he was able to enroll in early college courses through Savannah State University.[3][5] He then earned a Master of Divinity, Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy from Union Theological Seminary, a school affiliated with Columbia University.[6][7][8][2]

Religious work

Warnock served as the youth pastor and then as assistant pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York.[citation needed] In 2002, while senior pastor at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore, Maryland, Warnock and an assistant minister were charged with obstructing a police investigation into suspected child abuse at a church-run camp in Carroll County, Maryland. Warnock said the alleged abuse was not sexual and denied any wrongdoing in trying to prevent a state trooper from interviewing counselors. He said he was only asserting that lawyers should be present during the interviews.[9]

In 2005, he became senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr.'s former congregation; he is the fifth person to serve as Ebenezer's senior pastor since its founding.[3] [10]

As pastor, Warnock advocated for clemency for Troy Davis, who was executed in 2011.[11] In 2013, he delivered the benediction at the public prayer service at the second inauguration of Barack Obama.[12] In March 2019, Warnock hosted an interfaith meeting on climate change at his church, featuring Al Gore and William Barber II.[13]

Politics

Warnock came to prominence in Georgia politics as a leader in the campaign to expand Medicaid in the state.[14] In March 2014, Warnock led a sit-in at the Georgia State Capitol to press state legislators to accept the expansion of Medicaid offered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[15] He and other leaders were arrested during the protest.[15][16] In 2015, Warnock considered running in the 2016 election for the United States Senate seat held by Johnny Isakson as a member of the Democratic Party.[17] He opted not to run.[18][19]

From June 2017 to January 2020, Warnock chaired the New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan organization focused on voter registration.[20][10]

2020 U.S. Senate special election

Main article: 2020 United States Senate special election in Georgia

In January 2020, Warnock decided to run in the 2020 special election for the United States Senate seat held by Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed after Isakson's resignation.[21] He has been endorsed by Democratic Senators Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Bernie Sanders, Brian Schatz, and Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Stacey Abrams, and former presidents Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter.[22][10][23][24][25] Several players of The Atlanta Dream, a WNBA team co-owned by Loeffler, wore shirts endorsing Warnock in response to controversial comments Loeffler made about the Black Lives Matter movement.[26]

Warnock supports expanding the Affordable Care Act.[27] He has called for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.[14]

Personal life

Warnock married Oulèye Ndoye in a public ceremony on February 14, 2016; the couple had held a private ceremony in January.[4][28] They have two children. The couple separated in November 2019.[29]

Bibliography

  • Warnock, Raphael G. (December 2013). The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety, and Public Witness. New York: NYU Press. ISBN 9780814794463. OCLC 844308880.

References

  1. ^ Lewis, Ricardo (February 15, 2016). "From Public Housing to the People's Pastor: Savannah native uses pulpit as platform for change". Wsav.com. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Jealous, Ben (2015). Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding. Atria Books. ISBN 978-1476799834.
  3. ^ a b c Clark Felty, Dana (October 6, 2006). "From Kayton Homes to King's pulpit". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Poole, Shelia (February 16, 2016). "Ebenezer's Pastor Raphael Warnock to wed in public ceremony on Sunday". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "The Reverend Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, Ph. D." African American Heritage House. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  6. ^ McMahon, Julie (December 18, 2019). "Pastor at historic MLK Jr. church to speak at SU". The Post-Standard.
  7. ^ Woods, A. (January 30, 2020). "Who Is Raphael Warnock?: Everything To Know About Ebenezer Baptist Pastor Running For Georgia Senate". News One. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  8. ^ Ben Jealous; Trabian Shorters (February 3, 2015). Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding. Simon and Schuster. pp. 227–. ISBN 978-1-4767-9983-4.
  9. ^ Walker, Childs; Rivera, John (August 3, 2002). "City ministers accused of obstructing abuse probe". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Fausset, Richard (January 30, 2020). "Citing 'Soul of Our Democracy,' Pastor of Dr. King's Church Enters Senate Race". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  11. ^ Dreyfuss, Joel (September 21, 2011). "Noted Reverend on Troy Davis: 'Moral Disaster'". Theroot.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  12. ^ Banks, Adelle M. (January 22, 2013). "Preachers pray for unity at National Cathedral inaugural service". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Atlanta, The (March 13, 2019). "The Rev. Raphael Warnock, Ebenezer Baptist Church to host interfaith meeting on climate with Al Gore, the Rev. William Barber II". The Atlanta Voice. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "'My ideals are driven by my faith': Raphael Warnock on his Senate runoff race". NBC News. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Atlanta's 55 Most Powerful: 51. Raphael Warnock". Atlantamagazine.com. October 1, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Davis, Janel (March 18, 2014). "Arrests follow protests at state Capitol". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  17. ^ Bluestein, Greg (August 6, 2015). "Exclusive: Pastor of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church considers U.S. Senate run". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  18. ^ Bluestein, Greg (October 2, 2015). "Pastor of MLK's church will not run for Georgia Senate seat". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  19. ^ Galloway, Jim; Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia (January 13, 2020). "The Jolt: Raphael Warnock prepares to run for Senate against Kelly Loeffler". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  20. ^ "Board chair named at the New Georgia Project". Valdosta Today. June 8, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Bluestein, Greg (January 30, 2020). "Raphael Warnock, pastor of famed church, enters Georgia Senate race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  22. ^ Bluestein, Greg; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "Jimmy Carter backs Warnock in crowded U.S. Senate race in Georgia". ajc. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  23. ^ Arkin, James (January 30, 2020). "Stacey Abrams, Dems rally around pastor in burgeoning Georgia Senate race". Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  24. ^ "Elizabeth Warren". Facebook. June 15, 2020. As a champion for fair wages, Reverend Raphael Warnock has stood up for working families for years. I'm proud to endorse him because I know with him in the Senate, Georgians will have a leader with the courage and conviction to put working families first.
  25. ^ Nadler, Ben (September 25, 2020). "Obama endorses Warnock in crowded Georgia Senate race". Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  26. ^ Deb, Sopan (August 4, 2020). "W.N.B.A. Players Escalate Protest of Anti-B.L.M. Team Owner". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  27. ^ Fausset, Richard (November 1, 2020). "Can Raphael Warnock Go From the Pulpit to the Senate?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  28. ^ Poole, Shelia (February 16, 2016). "A look at the wedding of Rev. Raphael Warnock and Ouleye Ndoye". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 1, 2020. The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Ouleye Ndoye were wed publicly on Valentine's Day at the Auburn Avenue church. They initially wed in a private ceremony last month in Danforth Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College, Warnock's alma mater.
  29. ^ Deere, Stephen; Bluestein, Greg (March 7, 2020). "Warnock, wife involved in dispute". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raphael Warnock.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia
(Class 3)
2020 		Most recent
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