John M. Perkins


John M. Perkins is an American Christian minister, civil rights activist, Bible teacher, best-selling author, philosopher and community developer. He is the founder and President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation with his wife, Vera Mae Perkins. He is co-founder of the Christian Community Development Association. Despite being a third-grade dropout, Perkins has been recognized for his work with 16 honorary doctorate degrees from schools including Belhaven University, Virginia University of Lynchburg, Wheaton College, Gordon College, Taylor University, Northern Seminary and Millsaps College. He has served on the Boards of Directors of World Vision and Prison Fellowship. Perkins has advised and/or served on the Presidential Task Forces of five U.S. Presidents. He is the author of 17 books, including the best-selling One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race.

Early life

John M. Perkins was born in 1930 in New Hebron, Mississippi. His mother died of pellagra when he was just seven months old. Abandoned by his father, he was raised by his grandmother and extended family, who worked as sharecroppers. In 1947, he moved away from Mississippi at the urging of his family, who worried that he might be in danger following the fatal shooting of his brother, Clyde, by a police officer. He settled in southern California. In 1951, Perkins married Vera Mae Buckley; that same year, he was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces. Perkins served in Okinawa during the Korean War. In 1957, Perkins's son, Spencer, invited him to church and Perkins converted to Christianity.

Career

In 1960, Perkins moved with his wife and children from California to Mendenhall, Mississippi, which neighbors his childhood hometown of New Hebron. There, in 1964, he established Voice of Calvary Bible Institute.
Motivated by a desire to help their neighbors as well as their own children, Vera Mae started running a day-care center from their home that from 1966 to 1968 became part of the federally funded Head Start Program. Initially concerned solely with evangelism and Bible literacy, Perkins had a growing conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ addressed spiritual and physical needs.
In 1965, Perkins supported voter registration efforts in Simpson County, and in 1967 he became involved in school desegregation when he enrolled his son Spencer in the previously all-white Mendenhall High School.
In the fall of 1969, Perkins became the leader in an economic boycott of white-owned stores in Mendenhall. On February 7, 1970, following the arrest of students who had taken part in a protest march in Mendenhall, Perkins was arrested and tortured by white police officers in Brandon Jail.
Remarkably, Perkins emerged from this terrible experience with a commitment to his vision of a holistic ministry — one that saw the bondage racism inflicted on whites as well as the damage and deprivation of the black community. He summarized his philosophy of Christian ministry in the "three Rs" — relocation, redistribution and reconciliation. He expounded on this philosophy in the 1976 book A Quiet Revolution: The Christian response to human need, a strategy for today.
By the mid-seventies, Voice of Calvary, Jackson and Mendenhall Ministries were operating thrift stores, health clinics, a housing cooperative, and classes in Bible and theology. Perkins was in demand as a speaker in evangelical churches, colleges, and conventions across the country.
1982, the Perkinses left Voice of Calvary Ministries to return to California, where they founded Harambee Christian Family Center, now called Harambee Ministries, in northwest Pasadena.
In 1989, Perkins founded the Christian Community Development Association, a network of evangelical congregations and organizations working in deprived urban settings. CCDA sought to invite evangelicals into social justice and civil rights.
After the death of his son Spencer in 1998, Perkins established the Spencer Perkins Center, the youth arm of the John M. Perkins Foundation. It has developed youth programs such as After School Tutoring, Summer Arts Camp, Junior and College Internship Program, Good News Bible Club, Young Life and Jubilee Youth Garden. The foundation also has a housing arm, Zechariah 8, providing affordable housing for low-to-moderate-income families, with a focus on single mothers.
On September 17, 2016, Perkins became President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation as his three daughters, Elizabeth, Priscilla, and Deborah Perkins, became co-presidents of the organization.

Recognition

In 2012, Calvin College began the John M. Perkins Leadership Fellows, a cohort of students who address issues like poverty, injustice, racism and materialism, and strive to be servant leaders who are committed to the renewal and restoration of their communities.
In 2004, Seattle Pacific University opened the John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development.
In 2009, the band Switchfoot released the song "The Sound ". It includes the line "John Perkins said it right / Love is the final fight."

Honorary Doctorates