Rev. Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr.
The Reverend Dr. H. Beecher Hicks,
Jr., is the senior minister of the 6,000-member historic Metropolitan
Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Since his election in June 1977, Dr.
Hicks has served as the fifth senior minister in the congregation’s
140-year history. During his 27-year pastorate, Metropolitan has developed
one of the world’s foremost Christian congregations, distinguished by its
fervent worship and dynamic preaching. The church’s various commercial and
social service ventures have placed Metropolitan among the world’s most
productive religious and civic institutions. Metropolitan’s four
subsidiary corporations, church administrative offices, school and over 60
ministries, comprise a workforce of nearly 100 persons, making it one of
the community’s largest faith-based employers.
Dr. Hicks has established an undisputed reputation for accomplished and
innovative initiatives that further cultivate the partnership between the
church and community. Among these exemplary efforts are: the
Metropolitan/Delta Adult Literacy Council, a project that provides adult
literacy enrichment for community residents; the Metropolitan Day School,
with an Afro-centric Christian learning experience, for students at levels
pre-K through 8; IAMA, Inc., an expansive ministry dedicated to addressing
psychological and emotional health via Christ-centered counseling and
therapy; and the Metropolitan Community Development Corporation (MCDC),
engaging in community and economic development concerns in Washington,
D.C., and the State of Maryland. To facilitate the success of these
ministry efforts, Dr. Hicks has partnered with an intriguing mosaic of
corporate directors, corporate operations executives, commercial bankers,
educators, and social service providers to establish a leadership model
for community-based faith organizations.
In the Fall of 2000, God blessed Metropolitan to procure 34 acres of land
in Largo, Maryland, on which a preeminent worship complex for Christ will
be erected in an effort to better serve the spiritual and socio-economic
needs of the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region for the 21st century. Dr.
Hicks is providing visionary leadership to build a holistic place of
worship and unity that uplifts the heart, strengthens the mind, and
empowers the spirit. To this end, Metropolitan’s administrative and
corporate operations reflect the core values of efficiency,
thoughtfulness, and fiscal responsibility that have come to characterize
his style of leadership. The church’s annual operating budget exceeds $5
million and is a national paradigm for church and non-profit efficacy. It
also owns comprehensive commercial and residential developments worth over
$10 million, and a highly selective 150-student private Christian day
school.
Dr. Hicks is President of Kerygma Associates, Inc., a management
consulting firm specializing in church leadership development and
team-building, and President of the Martin Luther King Fellows, Inc. Dr.
Hicks is also a prolific writer and is widely published in religious
publications. He has authored six books; the three most recent of which
are On Jordan's Stormy Banks [2004], My Soul’s Been Anchored [1998] and
Preaching Through A Storm [1987, 12th printing]. In November 1993, Ebony
Magazine honored Dr. Hicks with the designation of one of America’s
“Fifteen Greatest African American Preachers.”
Dr. Hicks is an honors graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine
Bluff. A recipient of the Rockefeller Protestant Fellowship, Dr. Hicks
graduated from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in May 1967. Selected as
one of the original Martin Luther King Fellows at the Colgate Rochester
Divinity School in 1972, he earned the Doctor of Ministry in Theology
degree in 1975. His dissertation, Images of the Black Preacher: The Man
Nobody Knows, was subsequently published by Judson Press in 1977. In 1994
Dr. Hicks received the coveted Merrill Fellowship for post-graduate study
at Harvard’s Divinity School. In 1999, Dr. Hicks earned the Master of
Business Administration from the George Washington University.
Dr. Hicks was licensed and ordained to the Gospel ministry by Mount Olivet
Baptist Church of Columbus, Ohio, and served successfully as Senior
Minister of Second Baptist Church, Mumford, New York; Mt. Ararat Baptist
Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the Antioch Missionary Baptist
Church of Christ in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Hicks, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the son of the late
Reverend Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Sr., and the late Mrs. Eleanor Frazier
Hicks. He is married to the former Elizabeth Harrison of Selma, Alabama.
They are the parents of H. Beecher III, the Reverend Ivan Douglas, and
Kristin Elizabeth Hicks. Dr. and Mrs. Hicks are the proud grandparents of
twin girls, Austynn and Ashley, and grandsons H. Beecher IV, and Harrison
Patton Hicks.