Join us this Sunday as we welcome Doug Cunningham, a dynamic voice in faith and justice to First Church!
Doug is an ordained pastor, activist, and former missionary whose remarkable forty-year journey began in the Philippines during the resistance that helped bring down the Marcos dictatorship in the 1980s. His ministry has spanned diverse communities—white, multiracial, and Black congregations—in Oakland, Baltimore, and New York. From 2008 to 2019, he founded and led a church in the Bronx, deepening his commitment to grassroots transformation.
More recently, Doug played a pivotal role in a campaign led by Black Methodists for Church Renewal (2020–2025), which launched the James Lawson Anti-Racism Commission (JLARC) within the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
His debut book, Beyond the White Church, explores the intersections of faith, race, and justice with bold clarity.