The search committee, previously accused of gender discrimination, moves forward with recommending Kevin R. Johnson to lead the iconic congregation.

A prominent New York City church, recently embroiled in a gender discrimination lawsuit over its hiring process, has moved ahead with the selection of its next senior pastor. The Abyssinian Baptist Church, considered a cornerstone of the Black church in America, has chosen Kevin R. Johnson, the founding pastor of Dare to Imagine Church in Philadelphia, as its candidate for approval.

In an internal memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, the church’s Pulpit Search Committee expressed confidence in Johnson’s ability to lead the congregation. “The Pulpit Search Committee is confident in Rev. Johnson’s ability to lead and uphold the history and legacy of our institution of faith,” the memo, dated April 13, reads. The memo further notes that the final candidate will soon be presented to the congregation for a vote.

If chosen, Johnson, 50, will continue a longstanding tradition, as no woman has ever served as Abyssinian’s senior pastor. The church, based in Harlem, gained fame through the leadership of Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a political figure who served as pastor from 1937 to 1972 and later served in Congress for 26 years.

The vacancy was created after the death of Calvin O. Butts III, who had served as senior pastor for several decades before passing in 2022. Johnson, who had worked under Butts as an intern and assistant pastor, is expected to fill the top position, though the final decision is still contingent on a vote by the congregation.

Johnson’s selection has stirred controversy, particularly after the Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman, a former assistant pastor of Butts, was among the interviewees. Marshall Turman, who was not chosen as a finalist, filed a federal lawsuit against the church and the search committee, claiming gender discrimination. The church has denied the allegations.

Marshall Turman responded to the church’s decision by saying, “The blessing of Baptist polity is that we ascribe to the distinctive of the ‘priesthood of all believers’… With the help of God, the power to call a pastor ultimately rests with the congregation.”

Johnson holds a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Education degree from Columbia University, and is a 1996 graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta. His candidacy follows a controversial resignation from Bright Hope Baptist Church in 2014, after which he founded Dare to Imagine Church.