Willie Richardson Oral History Interview
Scope and Contents
Oral history interview with Rev. Willie Richardson in which he describes his childhood in South Carolina and Pennsylvania, conversion and call to ministry, education at the Philadelphia School of the Bible, founding the Christian Stronghold Baptist Church in Philadelphia; the importance of developing training programs on evangelism, preaching, and family dynamics; the condition of the African American Evangelical community in the city; relations between black and white ministries and churches; Goodman Lynch; the Center for Urban Theological Studies; racism in the United States and in American churches; the need for books and resources by Black Evangelical authors.The events described in the interview cover the time period 1939-1998.
Dr. Willie Richardson was interviewed by Paul Ericksen on August, 13, 1998, at the Renaissance Center Hotel in Detroit, Michigan.
Dates
- Created: 1998
Creator
- Richardson, Willie, 1939- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical or Historical Information
Full Name: Willie Richardson
Birth: October 13, 1939 in Florence, South Carolina; family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1945
Family:
Parents: Father was a construction worker and longshoreman; mother was a homemaker
Siblings: Oldest of seven children
Marital Status: Married to Patricia in 1962
Children: Gregory, Garin, Gwendolyn, Gerald
Conversion: At the age of 21, while attending Philadelphia School of the Bible
Ordination: March 20, 1966 by Dr. Berry Cooper of the Truelight Missionary Baptist Church
Education:
1962-1967 - Philadelphia School of the Bible
Completed coursework at Temple University
Career:
1958-1974 - Worked as a draftsman, designer and mechanical engineer at various engineering firms in Philadelphia, until he became a fulltime minister at his church
1962 - Received a call to ministry while attend Philadelphia School of the Bible
February 13, 1966 - Founded Christian Stronghold Baptist Church and served as senior pastor
1974 - Resigned his engineering position and went fulltime into Christian ministry
1975 - Founder, with his wife Patricia, and president of Christian Research and Development
1980 - Began Parenting with a Purpose program
Co-founded Inter City Impact Institute
Founded Resources for Better Families
Taught courses at the Center for Urban Theological Studies, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Messiah College
Other significant information: Received honorary doctoral degree from Geneva College in 1993; Author of Reclaiming the Urban Family: How to Mobilize the Church as a Family Training Center (1996). Disciplining the City (1992), The Black Family: Past, Present and Future (1991).
Extent
2 Audio Tapes
156 Minutes
Language of Materials
English
Accruals and Additions
The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Willie Richardson in August 1998.
Accession 98-59
July 10, 2018
Bob Shuster
- African American churches.
- African American clergy.
- African American evangelists.
- African American leadership.
- African Americans -- Economic conditions.
- African Americans -- Families.
- African Americans -- Missions.
- African Americans -- Religious life.
- African Americans -- Social conditions.
- Bailey, E. K.
- Brethren in Christ Church.
- Campus Crusade for Christ.
- Center for Urban Theological Studies (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Christian Stronghold Baptist Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Clergy -- Training of -- United States.
- Conversion -- Christianity.
- Conversion -- Personal narratives. -- Christianity.
- Counseling.
- Evangelicalism -- United States.
- Evangelistic work -- Study and teaching.
- Evangelistic work -- United States.
- Hill, E. V. (Edward Victor), 1933-
- Lynch, Goodrich.
- Marriage -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
- Nottage, B. M.
- Patterson, A. Louis, Jr.
- Philadelphia (Pa.)
- Philadelphia College of the Bible.
- Preaching.
- Racism -- United States.
- Racism in theological seminaries -- United States.
- Theology -- Study and teaching -- United States.
- United States -- Race relations.
Creator
- Richardson, Willie, 1939- (Person)
- Ericksen, Paul. (Person)
- Title
- Collection 555 Oral History Interview with Willie Richardson
- Author
- Bob Shuster
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Roman Script
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository