Rev. Dr. William Eugene Crowder, Jr.

Rev. Dr. William Eugene Crowder, Jr. is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

He was born and nurtured in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1987, he graduated from Hillcrest High School, where he was the Student Commencement Speaker. That same year he entered Central State University as a political science major, graduating in 1992 after completing an outstanding academic, athletic, and political career.

At Central State, Dr. Crowder was active in the Student Government Association, serving as Vice President (1989–90) and President (1991–92). He also led the University’s football team to one national and numerous Black college championships. He was deeply involved with the Delta Xi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, receiving the Brother of the Year Award twice and the Toyota Leadership Award in recognition of his leadership and athletic achievements.

In August 1992, Dr. Crowder entered United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. While there, he served as Student Trustee Eligible and as Chairperson of the Vision to Victory Worship Committee (Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration). He also served as Chaplain of the African-American Seminarians’ Caucus. Dr. Crowder earned his Master of Divinity degree in May 1995 and later completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Memphis Theological Seminary in May 2005.

Having acknowledged his call to preach in July 1990, Dr. Crowder was licensed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1994 and ordained in 1995. He served as Student Minister of First United Christian Church in Xenia, Ohio (1992–94), and as Youth Pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis (1995). Later that year, he began serving New Covenant Christian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next fourteen years, under his leadership, New Covenant received a $3.4 million HUD grant to build a 52-unit housing complex for the elderly.

In January 2007, Dr. Crowder was appointed to the Institutional Review Board of Vanderbilt University Hospital, which oversees all of the hospital’s medical research study programs.

In December 2012, Dr. Crowder was elected Senior Pastor of the Historic Park Manor Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Chicago, Illinois. Over the past 13 years, he has made a powerful difference in the congregation, the community, and the city. Working with the lay leaders of Park Manor and the City of Chicago, Dr. Crowder has helped bring a $34 million, 52-unit senior housing project to the South Side, with a scheduled groundbreaking in 2026.

He has also led ecumenical efforts through the Chatham Ministerial Alliance of Chicago, which secured a $1 million state grant to combat gun violence. Dr. Crowder currently serves as President of the National Convocation Board of Trustees of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is the former Chair of the Committee on Ministry of the Christian Church in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

He has previously served as an advisor to the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program at Chicago Theological Seminary. In 2019, Dr. Crowder was inducted into the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. International Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.

Dr. Crowder is married to Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Associate Professor of New Testament at Chicago Theological Seminary. They are the proud parents of two young adult sons: William Rowland Jackson Crowder, a graduate student at the Meadows School of Arts at Southern Methodist University, and Sollomon Rowland Buckhanon Crowder, a senior at Howard University.