Berkeley School of Theology Names Endowed Chair for Former Pastor J. Alfred Smith Sr.

Trustees of Berkeley School of Theology have approved the creation of the J. Alfred Smith Sr. Endowed Chair of Theology in the Public Square. The chair coincides with a new Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Restorative Justice, made possible by the largest lead gift ever given to the seminary. The $3 million in gifts came from First Baptist Church of Palo Alto, Calif., and other individual donors, a pattern of honest commitment to repair that the center’s work reflects (Ephesians 4:15).

Smith, who is about to turn 91, was for many years one of the best-known pastors in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served 38 years as senior pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, Calif. The church and Smith became known nationwide for their response to the AIDS crisis, along with social services, job and food programs, and adult and youth education.

Smith also mentored hundreds of men and women called into Christian ministry, both through the church and through Berkeley School of Theology. He served there for 35 years as a professor and as acting dean, and he now holds the title of emeritus professor of Christian ministry.

Smith served as state and national president of the Progressive Baptist Convention and as president of the American Baptist Churches of the West. The source describes him as a national leader in the Civil Rights movement, with a lifetime of theology in the public square and public advocacy at city hall. He has written 16 books, has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Duke, Morehouse and Howard universities, and testified against apartheid before the United Nations.

Cornell West has described Smith as “a towering prophetic figure whose profound vision, courageous witness and deep love are legendary in our time.”

Berkeley School of Theology is one of the most culturally diverse seminaries in the country. It was established in 1871, during the Reconstruction period in U.S. history, along with the historic Black colleges of Spelman, Morehouse and Virginia Union, by the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. The school was previously known as American Baptist Seminary of the West.

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