Rev. Elijah McDavid III

Biography

The Reverend Elijah Llewellyn McDavid III is a passionate disciple, dynamic preacher, and cultural architect. Since September 2020, Pastor McDavid has proudly served as Senior Pastor of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis. 

Under Pastor McDavid’s leadership, the church has grown from less than 500 to more than 2,000 members with the addition of 20 new ministries. Multi-million dollar renovation projects have been completed to restore the sanctuary, build a new Music & Multimedia Suite, and open a youth center providing culturally informed programming, mental health care, and worship opportunities for all ages. Fellowship stands as a community anchor in the McKinley neighborhood serving thousands of families through its grocery distributions, literacy coaching, vaccination clinics, HBCU tours, revivals and block parties.

Pastor McDavid received his Master of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary (Columbia University) in New York City, and while there, held the distinction of being the James Forbes Scholar. He is also a magna cum laude graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Pastor McDavid is a native of Arlington, Virginia, and prior to coming to Fellowship, he served on the pastoral staff of the Alfred Street Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia. In July 2012, he became the youngest person to be licensed to ministry in the 200-year history of Alfred Street. 

He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Downtown Minneapolis Senior Interfaith Clergy Council, and sits on the board of the Northside Achievement Zone and the African American Leadership Forum.

The joy of his life is his union with his best friend and wife, Tylar Breanne McDavid. And his greatest privilege is serving as bonus dad to Hayes Stuart.