Rev. Byron Williams

Reverend Byron Williams has served as pastor of the Resurrection Community Church since 2002. 

A self-described “prisoner to hope,” Williams fuses theology with public policy to bring a fresh social justice perspective to the public arena. Williams draws a distinction between religiosity and theology and it is this characteristic that sharpens his critique of current events. His commitment to “changing the status quo conversation,” prods his readers to think deeper about the critical issues facing Americans in the 21st century.  

As the only pastor/syndicated columnist in the country, Williams writes a twice weekly social/political column for the Oakland Tribune. His column appears in 15 publications and several progressive web sites across the country.  

In addition, Williams has had articles appear in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Los Angeles Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, Christianity Today, UK Guardian, Tikkun Magazine, and Public Theology.   In 2005, he was voted by CityFlight magazine as one of the “30 Most Influential African Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Princeton professor Cornel West considers Byron’s work “groundbreaking and historic.” The Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr. of Allen Temple Baptist Church calls Byron “the Reinhold Niebuhr of his day.”   

Williams has interviewed former speechwriter to President Kennedy, Ted Sorenson, former presidential candidate John Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Joe Biden, Princeton professor Cornel West, social critic Michael Eric Dyson, former Chief of the CIA Counterterrorist Center’s Bin Laden Unit Michael Scheuer, filmmaker Raoul Peck, author and former president of Oberlin College Robert Fuller, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and writer/poet Maya Angelou. 

Williams is the author of "Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections of the Iraq War", a series of essays covering a four-year span on America's enterprise in Iraq.  He is also featured in a biographical reference book entitled, “Notable African-American Media Figures,” for Greenwood Press. The book contains 240 biographical entries on individuals who work in the various news media outlets. Williams' forthcoming book project is  entitled "Inconvenient Love: Essays by African American Clergy and Theologians in support of LGBT Rights." In addition, several of his articles are featured in college textbooks for writing students.  He is also the host of radio-blog talk show titled: "The Public Morality". In 2010, Williams' work was natiionally recogized when was nominated by GLAAD as "Columnist of the Year."

Williams has spoken throughout the country, he has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, ABC Radio, Fox News, and National Public Radio.  He is a featured writer on The Huffington Post, and serves as national Chair of the Religious Affairs Committee for the National Black Justice Coalition as well as a member of People for the American Way's African American Relgious Affairs.  

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science; his masters’ thesis at the Pacific School of Religion of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA emphasized a theology of liberation.  He also speaks French. 

He lives in Oakland, CA with his dog Zeus.