Rev. Dr. Kip Bernard Banks, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of the East Washington Heights Baptist Church of Washington, DC. He's working to build up an intergenerational family of disciples who love God, love neighbors, and work to transform the community with the Gospel of Christ.
He has recently served as the General Secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. (PNBC), the church convention of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his role as PNBC General Secretary Rev. Banks oversaw the operation of the nation’s second-largest Black Baptist denomination.
A native of Los Angeles, CA and a graduate of that city’s public school system, Banks received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Selected as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, Rev. Banks also completed master of public policy and urban planning degrees from the University of Michigan. In addition, he holds a master of divinity degree from the Howard University School of Divinity. He also holds a Doctorate in Ministry from the Wesley Theological Seminary.
Before being called to East Washington’s pulpit, Rev. Banks served as Director of Theological Education with the Congress of National Black Churches where he oversaw efforts to empower Black ministerial alliances on a nationwide basis. In their June 1, 1998 issue, Newsweek magazine recognized Banks as one of the “Lord’s Foot Soldiers” in the battle to reach at-risk-youth.
Among his many public and civic involvements, Rev. Banks has served as a senior aide to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee under Sen. Jim Sasser (D-TN) and Director of Government Relations with the American Public Transit Association. He also serves on the Board of the DC Baptist Convention, the DC Baptist Foundation, Wesley Theological Seminary, the African Cultural Heritage Institute and the Center for Nature in Spirituality. He is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Pastor Banks and his wife Dollie are the parents of three children, Carolyne Marie, Margaret Katherine and Kip Bernard, Jr.
