Ralph C. Watkins

Ralph Watkins is associate professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur Georgia. His work focuses on building bridges between young adults and the church in order to develop future leaders.

With over 20 years of pastoral, teaching, and administrative experience, Watkins is an active teaching scholar and has over 250 publications and conference presentations to his credit. He is author of the books The Gospel Remix: Reaching the Hip Hop Generation (2007) and I Ain't Afraid to Speak My Mind (2003). His most recent book Jay Z to Jesus: Reaching and Teaching Young Adults in the African American Church which he co-authored with Benjamin Stephens is helping thousands of congregations around the country effectively reach young adults in urban centers. His new book Successful Pastoral Transitions in the African American Church is due to be released in June of 2010 from Judson Press. He is currently working on his next book project, Hip-Hop Redemption: Finding God in the Music and the Message to be released by Baker Academic Press in late 2010. Additionally, Watkins contributed the chapter "Rap, Religion, and New Realities: The Emergence of a Religious Discourse in Rap Music" to the book Noise and Spirit: The Religious Sensibilities of Rap Music (2003), which is considered an outstanding treatment of hip-hop and theology.

In recent years, Watkins has received a Governor's Teaching Fellowship, Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Fulbright Hayes Fellowship for a study in Ghana, a Wabash Teaching Fellowship, and various awards and study grants to study in the in Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Mexico, and Ethiopia. He is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination and served as the executive pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles under Rev. Dr. John J. Hunter. Prior to returning to FAME he served as Director of Ecclesia / Executive Pastor at The City of Refuge under Bishop Noel Jones.