Charles G. Adams

Charles Gilchrist Adams is the first Nickerson Professor of the Practice of Ethics and Ministry at Harvard Divinity School.

Biography and Career

Adams served as the Senior Pastor at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, United States, since 1969. Under his leadership, the church was nationally noted for establishing social, educational, and recreational programs for a congregation numbering at more than 10,000 members, as well as broader economic development initiatives that have helped revitalize much of northwest Detroit. He has been president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP and holds memberships on numerous boards across the United States, including those of the National Council of Churches and Morehouse College. In a more global arena, he has been integral to the World Council of Churches' efforts to combat racism around the world, and in this regard addressed the United Nations on South African apartheid. In 1994, he accompanied President Bill Clinton to Jordan to witness the signing of the peace accord between Jordan and Israel.

Education

Adams earned a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. He obtained a Rockefeller Fellowship of Harvard University, a Doctoral Fellowship of Union Theological Seminary and the Merrill Theological Fellowship of Harvard University.

Awards

In 1993, Adams was selected by Ebony Magazine as one of the 15 greatest Black preachers. In 1991 and 1992, Ebony Magazine selected Adams as one of the 100 most influential Americans. Due to his vast efforts, Dr. Adams has earned honorary degrees from the University of Michigan, Dillard University, Morehouse College, Morris College, Shaw College, Birmingham College, and Tuskegee University. He has received many awards, including the Katzenstein and Black Alumni/ae awards at HDS, where he has also been a central teacher for the Summer Leadership Institute for faith-based community and economic development.

Quotes

"All things are yours. The past is yours, learn from it; the present is yours, fulfill it; the future is yours, preserve it; the bible is yours, know it; science is yours, master it; the truth is yours, believe it; cancer is yours, cure it; faith is yours, claim it; injustice is yours, correct it; ignorance is yours, banish it; children are yours, teach them; sickness is yours, heal it; the arms race is yours, freeze it; racism is yours, end it; war is yours, stop it; poverty is yours, solve it; hope is yours, believe it; the world is yours, change it; time is yours, use it; death is yours, prevent it, delay it, overcome it" -- "All Things Are Yours"

"This is your world, we live in one world. All things are yours. All people are your people. And, their problems are your opportunities to turn their midnights in day; their despair into hope; the trampled down into the upward bound" --"All Things Are Yours"

"Your faith in God is your key to take the world. Not to dominate it, but to deliver it; not to exploit it, but to enrich it; not to own it, but to love it." --"All Things are Yours"

"It's not how high jump when you get happy; it's how straight you walk when your feet touch the ground."

"Just be in Christ. And you become a bona fide citizen of the whole world with Calvary's certified passport and visa stamped and sealed by the Holy Ghost. You can go anywhere, and speak in any language, tackle any problem, face any danger, love anybody and do anything that will bring Glory to God and freedom to people. Just be in Christ. And all things are yours. All people are your people. All churches are your church. All places are your home. And all problems are your challenge to solve them. Just be in Christ. And you are free from loneliness and free for love, free from futility, free for family, free from anxiety, and free for activity. And there are no walls of separation, segregation, isolation, castigation, stigmatization, intimidation - if you are free in Christ you are free indeed. You are totally free and totally obligated."

"And I wish that those of us who are Baptist were that bold in declaring what God has done for us... I wish you could tell folks... I don't know the fine points of theological arguementation... And I don't know much about Bruner's Natural Theology; or Kierkegaard's Holy Other Theology; Schleiermacher's Feeling of Absolute Dependence Theology. I don't know much about John Cobb's Process Theology, or Amos Wilder eschatological ethic theology; Paul Tillich's Ground of Being Theology or Rheinhold Lieber's (??) Hegellian Dialectical Theology, or Karl Barth's Transcendental Theology; Martin King's Conscience Idealistic Theology, Heidiggers' Existential Theology, Howard Thurman's Mystical Theology or James Cone's Liberation Theology. I don't know how many angels are dancing in the eye of a needle. But let me tell you what I know, where as I was blind, now I see! Where as I was bound, now I'm free! Where as I was down, now I'm lifted! Whereas I was broken, now I'm blessed!"

"Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do to improve your life and to improve the lives of others. Don't tell me you can't quit drinking. Yes you can, if you're free in Christ. Don't tell me you can't quit smoking. Don't tell me you've got to have a cup of coffee. Don't tell me you can't say no to crack-cocaine. Don't tell me you can't abstain from sex out of wedlock. Don't tell me you can't break up a demeaning, illicit relationship. Don't tell me you can't kick a habit. Don't tell me you can't excel in your studies. Don't tell me that you can't change your way of living, your way of eating, your way of talking, your way of walking, your way of loving and your way of sleeping. Don't tell me what you can't do, if you are in Christ! You are free and you can do all things. For Jesus Christ has paid the price for us to be free."