our pastor

The Honorable Reverend Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock serves as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the junior United States Senator from Georgia. The son of two Pentecostal pastors, Dr. Warnock responded to the call of ministry at a very early age, and at age 35, became the fifth and the youngest person ever called to the senior pastorate of Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1886. Before coming to EBC, “America’s Freedom Church,” Dr. Warnock was blessed to study and serve within the pastoral ranks of leading congregations also known for their deep spiritual roots and strong public witness. Under Dr. Warnock’s leadership, the church continues its legacy of social activism with both spiritual and numerical growth.

Dr. Warnock graduated from Morehouse College cum laude in 1991, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, from which he graduated with honors and distinctions. Seeing his pastoral work as tied to the ministry of scholarship and the life of the mind, Dr. Warnock continued his graduate studies at Union, receiving a Master of Philosophy degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the field of systematic theology. He has also received honorary degrees from The Morehouse School of Medicine, Fisk University and the University of the Virgin Islands. Dr. Warnock is an Ascend Fellow at The Aspen Institute, a Senior Fellow at Auburn Theological Seminary and a graduate of the Summer Leadership Institute of Harvard University and Leadership Atlanta.

Dr. Warnock is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc., and a Lifetime Member of the NAACP. While his activism was honored in 2016, as his footprints were placed on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, his activism did not stop there. Dr. Warnock continues to be a passionate advocate for criminal justice reform, voting rights, ending poverty and climate change.

Among other honors, Dr. Warnock has been recognized as one of “Atlanta’s 55 Most Powerful” by Atlanta magazine, one of “God’s Trombones” by the Rainbow Push Coalition, a “Good Shepherd” by Associated Black Charities, “A Man of Influence” by the Atlanta Business League, one of The Root 100 in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 (TheRoot.com a division of the Washington Post), one of the “20 Top African American Church Leaders” by TheRoot.com. He is a National TRIO Achiever Award recipient and has been honored by induction into Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. Dr. Warnock is also the recipient of Morehouse College’s prestigious Bennie Trailblazer award and Union Theological Seminary’s distinguished Union Medal. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution has hailed him “a leader among Atlanta and national clergy, a fitting heir to the mantle once worn by The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

On January 6, 2021, Dr. Warnock made history by becoming the first African American elected to the United States Senate from the state of Georgia. Only the second African American to represent a southern state in the Senate since Reconstruction, Dr. Warnock is honored to have been appointed to the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees. He also serves on the bicameral Joint Economic Committee and the U.S.

Senate Special Committee on Aging. Whether preaching in the pulpit or speaking on the Senate floor, Dr. Warnock is committed to working tirelessly on behalf of the nation and all Georgians.

His first book is entitled, The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety & Public Witness (NYU Press, 2014). His memoir, A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story (Penguin Press) was released in June, 2022. Senator Reverend Warnock is the proud father of one daughter, Chloé, and one son, Caleb.