VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 9/23/10)—Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., an American Baptist pastor and activist, died on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at his home in Demarest, N.J., after suffering a heart attack. He was 80.
Walker was perhaps best known for his opposition to the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba, but his rich legacy as a leader includes the following positions:
• director of Northcott Neighborhood House, Milwaukee, Wis., an agency that serves the local community;
• founding director of Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), an ecumenical group that works for social justice;
• director of Pastors for Peace, an IFCO program that has sent caravans of humanitarian aid to Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico;
• associate general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC), 1973-1978; and
• founding pastor of Salvation Baptist Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., since 1984.
Walker also served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the board of trustees of Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Mass., where he had studied in the 1950s.
The board chairman of IFCO, Thomas E. Smith, described Walker as “a gentle storm . . . He fought calmly and courageously. He deplored violence, and he always thought there was a peaceful way to deal with things.”
Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the NCC, said of Walker: “His credo always was that God anointed Christians to bring good news to the poor, release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed. He believed we are called to feed the hungry.”
In 1989 Walker received the Edwin T. Dahlberg Peace Award from American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS). Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III, executive director of ABHMS, said, “Lucius Walker had a courageous and compassionate spirit that called us into authentic community. He embodied the best of pastoral practice and prophetic imagination. I am grateful to God for his life of service and the impact his legacy continues to make among us.”
Walker was born on Aug. 3, 1930, in Roselle, N.J. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C.; a master of divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School; and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Survivors include three daughters, Gail, Donna and Edith; two sons, Lucius III and Richard; a brother, William; a sister, Lottie Bethea; and three grandchildren. Walker’s wife, Mary, died in 2008.
The funeral service was held Friday, Sept. 17, at Covenant Baptist Church, New York City. The church was packed with people who came from near and far to pay their respects to this pastor for peace and social justice.
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.