Alumnus Spotlight: Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan Jr.

For Dr. Jack Sullivan Jr. (DMin ’93), the call to ministry was sparked by one of the most consequential events in American history: the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.

“[It was] just a profoundly sad period of time. I was eight years old and remember people in my Cleveland community raising an urgent question: ‘Who will replace Dr. King?’” Jack recalls. “And so, many of my classmates and I said, well, we would.”

That dedication stuck with Jack through 1981, when he was a college student working with low wealth families in Washington D.C. It was then that Jack discovered his call to social justice ministry. Ultimately, he would advocate for the end of executions, a cause that became more important to him after the 1997 murder of his younger sister.

Says Jack, “Whether on a Cleveland street or in a prison as authorized by the state, homicide is morally repugnant. I maintain that executions do not help victim families find wholeness, restoration, or closure —there is no such thing as closure. Executions just continue the vicious cycle of death.”

Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan

Jack’s social justice passion only grew while completing his doctoral studies at United in the early 1990s. He was one of twenty-one students enrolled in a cohort focusing on the Black church and social and economic justice, mentored by renowned civil rights leaders Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and the late Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. At United, Jack learned the power of non-violent social change efforts from Dr. Moss and the importance of living in what Dr. Proctor described as the “subjunctive mood,” wherein humans are not imprisoned by what is, but liberated by what may be.

These lessons, among others, guided Jack in the years that followed. His ministries as a pastor, ecumenist, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) regional minister have reflected the social justice commitment that he says is central to his being. Jack’s current pursuits include the transformation of policing, ending partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression, and abolishing executions.

In recognition of his ministry, Bethany College, Bethany, WV, awarded Jack with an honorary doctorate in 2013. In 2020, he received the Social Justice Award by Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission.

Jack’s vision for the church involves social justice evangelism. Says Jack, “The church’s credibility rests with its willingness to model and spread the love-justice ethic of God made known through Jesus Christ, for our faith is about more than getting people into heaven; it is also about getting heaven into people!”