Our Minister

MARCUS L. LEATHERS

Educational History:

Doctor of Ministry, Art and Theology, Wesley Theological Seminary

Master of Divinity, Lexington Theological Seminary

Bachelor of Arts Chemistry, North Carolina State University

Work History for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ):

Marcus has served as pastor of Shepherd Park Christian Church since April 1999. In addition to pastoral ministry, Marcus is a Core Organizer and Trainer for his denomination’s Reconciliation Initiative, “Many Members One Table.” While serving at Midway Church of Christ (Disciples of Christ) in North Tazewell, Virginia, Marcus wrote a review of “The Recovery of Black Presence: An Interdisciplinary Exploration” for the  Lexington Quarterly. Also, as the Assistant to the Pastor at Michigan Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Washington, DC, Marcus contributed to the “African American Heritage Hymnal.”

Shepherd Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): Authenticity Drives the Mission

One of the many reasons that I have enjoyed serving the Pastoral ministry at Shepherd Park Christian Church (SPCC) is its commitment to “authentic” worship. Authentic describes and defines something as reliable, genuine or authoritative. One might say, authenticity drives the mission and ministries of SPCC. 

Reliable means “trustworthy.” SPCC is “trustworthy.” As an institution, SPCC has operated its ministries with transparency from its humble beginnings as an ecumenical movement in northwest Washington, DC. Among “mainstream” protestant churches, SPCC has one of the most reliable systems of accountability available-financial audits of its national and regional church, annual review of clergy and bi-annual review of its organization observed as the “General Assembly/ Synod.”

Genuine means “actually being what it seems.” It is written in I John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Genuine addresses the clarity of our mission at SPCC. In order to be disciples of Christ, we must strive to be like Christ who is revealed in the New Testament.

Clerow (Flip) Wilson, Jr. was the first African American entertainer to host his own weekly variety series. In caricature, Flip Wilson use to deliver the line “what you see honey, is what you get.” At SPCC, we are as honest about who we are as about exactly whose we are! Reverend James Cleveland often sang the words “be patient with me, God is not through with me yet.”  We are imperfect people loved by a perfect God and such grace provides SPCC with marvelous hope and genuine fellowship!

Authoritative means “officially ordered.” Dominion is associated with the word authority. The kingdom of God has dominion over SPCC. The direction of SPC has been “officially ordered” by the God’s kingdom.

Authenticity discloses the mission of SPCC.  Authenticity directs the ministry of SPCC. Authenticity offers God’s people worship that is grounded in Biblical theology. In a world that markets, “survival of the fittest,” authenticity is one of the reasons that our congregation has survived the tests of time—from a small room in 1899 to our church today.

One of our members at SPCC articulated “authenticity” so well one Sunday morning. He said, “…as Christ’s Disciples, we must work with due diligence and a great spirit to enlighten, encourage and inspire! We must inform in order to assure that God’s people do not simply inherit the wind!”

As a pastor, I recognize that worship has a responsibility to inspire us to act.  I certainly hope that the outcomes of our actions have the impact of positive and creative change in our community.  This change exists in qualitative as well as quantitative natures. Both can be measured in terms of the condition of lives renewed and redirected through the ministries of SPCC.

This is dialogue that I hope happens when we raise questions such as “Has the church nurtured the personal goals and ambitions of our youth?”  How a young professional in our community answers this question is an evaluative statement of SPCC’s relevance. In essence whether the church is simply taking up space in our neighborhoods or providing space that nurtures a greater future for a better America.

In the spirit of authenticity, welcome to Shepherd Park Christian Church, “the church with a heart of the Shepherd.”  

-- Rev. Marcus Leathers, Pastor Shepherd Park Christian Church

(mleathers@spcc-doc.org)