Rev. Dr. Alvin O’Neal Jackson

Alvin O’Neal Jackson, born in Laurel, Mississippi and raised in Indianola, Mississippi is the first born of the late Mr. Clyde Cullen Jackson and Mrs. Queen Esther Jackson. He attended Chapman College in Orange, California and graduated with honors from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology.

He received his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree, also with honors from Duke University, School of Divinity, Durham, North Carolina. In 1991 he completed the course work and was awarded the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Dr. Jackson has also received honorary degrees from Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee; Lynchburg College, Lynch, Virginia; Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia; Jarvis Christian College, Hawkins, Texas; and the Southern California School of Religion, Los Angeles, California.

He has served as Pastor of Loudon Avenue Christian Church, Roanoke, Va., Associate Pastor, Second Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. For almost 20 years, Dr. Jackson was Senior Pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church of Memphis, a congregation that experienced phenomenal growth under his leadership. The Church had a participating membership of 350 when he arrived and grew to over 8,000 participating members, making it at the time, the largest and fastest growing Disciple congregation in the United States and Canada.

Dr. Jackson served as the Senior Pastor of National City Christian Church and President of the National City Christian Church Foundation in Washington, DC, from April 1998 to November 2004. Under his leadership, the traditionally white congregation became increasingly diverse in membership, staff, and styles of worship. And 2001-2003, Dr. Jackson served as Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

In September 2006 he became Senior Pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church of New York City. And in September 2016 he retired from active pastoral ministry and relocated to Jacksonville, Florida. He has since become active with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, serving now as a Senior Strategist with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

Dr. Jackson is married to the former Tina Brown of Roanoke, Virginia, and they have one son, Cullen O’Neal Jackson of Memphis. The Jacksons reside in Jacksonville, FL.