REV. DR. VERNON PERCY HOWARD, JR.
Dr. Howard is a Kansas City native, raised by the hands of his mother and his maternal grandmother. In addition, a host of aunts, uncles, and an elder sister and brother helped to rear and guide him successfully through a fatherless childhood in route to the powerful man of God he is today.
His early spiritual formation took place during his elementary years as he matriculated through the St. Joseph's Catholic diocese here in the inner city. It was then during those
early years that he sensed on some level a special calling from God upon his life. He spent his secondary years in public schools also, during which time he spent many days journeying as a youth across the city's central and east sides. His youthful footprints could easily be found up and down Linwood, Indiana, Prospect and Topping streets, as by God's grace, he avoided the pitfalls of violence, crime, and drugs that so easily engulfed some of his young peers during the 1980's.
By 1981, his senior year of high school, he was a young man with deep sense of Black consciousness, a growing yearning for deeper spiritual groundings, and strong interests in poetry, literature, speech and drama. Though he was a poor kid from the inner city, the instilled strength of his mother and grandmother made him determined that his start would not dictate his finish. Wanting the best education possible, he decided to attend the predominantly white William Jewell College in Liberty, MO, which had been largely off limits to Black inner city kids such as him. Though advised not to attend by some, he journeyed to William Jewell College anyway. While there, he earned a spot as the starting point guard and captain of the basketball team. He was also voted as the senior "most likely to succeed" by his mostly white peers.
His young Adult Years were filled with the normal wanderings, that is, until 1991. This was the year he was finally apprehended by God's Hand to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and shepherd God's people. He immediately entered Central Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity, and began serving on the pastoral staff of the St. Stephen Baptist church here in Kansas City, MO, under the mentoring of the late Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones. His formation was also fortified by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Mann of the city, the late Rev. Dr. E.A. Freeman, the Rev. Dr. Robert L. Stephens, Sr., and the Rev. Dr. Steve Bland, Jr.
In 1995, God's path took him to Arizona where his ministry expanded and his territory enlarged. He earned the Doctorate of Ministry, published his first book titled, "The Way of an Eagle", and began his teaching career as an Adjunct Lecturer within the African American Studies department of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Upon his return to Kansas City in 2005, he joined the pastoral staff of the St. James United Methodist Church, recruited there by its leadership from Arizona to help give needed preaching and pastoral support to that flagship church on the occasion of the election of The Honorable Rev. Emanuel Cleaver II to the U.S. Congress. In addition, he has served as Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at Central Baptist Theological Seminary and Adjunct Instructor in Cultural Studies at William Jewell College since his return to the city.
God's path now returns this caring shepherd, dynamic preacher, gifted teacher, author, scholar, community voice, husband, father, son, brother, and friend to his own back yard here on 39th Street, to help continue the rich legacy of excellence in pastoral leadership that the prestigious and highly esteemed Second Baptist family has always enjoyed, and that it so richly deserves.
Dr. Howard's hobbies include chess, basketball, writing and reading.
