VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/22/10)—On June 15, the White House announced that President Obama tapped Suzan Johnson Cook, an American Baptist pastor and motivational speaker, for the post of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The position of the nation’s top diplomat for religious freedom had remained vacant since Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.
"What a joy to see such an eminently qualified person as Suzan Johnson Cook nominated to this position," said General Secretary Roy Medley. "Dr. Johnson Cook will bring a passion for religious liberty rooted in her American Baptist heritage along with her keen administrative skills and powerful gifts for communication to this important position. We trust that the confirmation process will be fully affirmative of her nomination."
A press release from the Associated Baptist Press notes that Johnson Cook has been a teacher, pastor, motivational speaker and political adviser for three decades. Most recently, she served as the founding pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York.
Before founding that congregation, from 1983 to 1996, Johnson Cook was pastor of the historic Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church in New York -- which meets on the oldest Baptist worship site in Manhattan, dating to 1795.
Mariners’ Temple and Bronx Christian Fellowship are both aligned with American Baptist Churches USA, and Johnson Cook’s ordination is through the denomination.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement praising the choice. “Dr. Johnson Cook is an experienced religious leader with a passion for human rights and an impressive record of public service,” she said. “President Obama could not have found a more fitting choice for this important position.”
Johnson Cook holds degrees from Emerson College, Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary. She is the owner of Charisma Speakers and has served since 1990 as a chaplain for the New York Police Department. She advised President Bill Clinton on race relations and also advised Obama when he was a senator. The New York Times has called her one of the best preachers in New York and described her as “Billy Graham and Oprah rolled into one.”
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.