An amazing preacher and loving friend, the Reverend Doctor Gary V. Simpson has been our pastor for a blessed nineteen years.

       From the city of Columbus, Ohio, Pastor Simpson was called by God to serve Him at the ripe young age of fifteen. It was during this fifteenth year of his life when he preached his first sermon at the Southfield Community Baptist Church. His passion for teaching the Word of God to His people continued to burn like a flame until he finally became an ordained preacher at the age of twenty (1983) through the Eastern Union Missionary Baptist Association. However, the preacher would not stop there. He earned his Bachelor of Art degree from Denison University in 1984, then his Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary three years later. Lastly, he worked to receive his Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary.

        Dr. Simpson first came to Concord in the year of 1984 and acted as an associate pastor for five years until 1989 when he left to lead the Calvary Baptist Church in Morristown, New Jersey as pastor – but only for a year. Gary Simpson then came back to the Concord Baptist Church of Christ as Senior Pastor on Sunday, October 7, 1990.

       Since that day, Pastor Simpson has proved that he is not only a man who preaches the Word of God, but one who encourages the members of Concord to aid several charities. In the past, our church has been involved with the Micah Project to feed the hungry, the Habitat for Humanity to build and give nice homes to the poor, and we have made donations to flood and hurricane victims all over the world. Concord Baptist has also become involved in community service based programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, HIV/AIDS testing and awareness, blood drives, diabetes and hypertension awareness. We have partnered with Community Planning Board #3, Inner City Sports, the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, P.A.L., and Angel Tree Ministries, also. Our church has run an elementary school for several years and during the summer, we host a Vacation Bible School and the Freedom School for children of the community.

      The Green Lantern (Pastor Simpson’s Facebook alias) saves his people through preaching the Good Word, however, the extent of his power reaches farther. When it is noticed just how involved the church is with helping the rest of the world we can see that the Lantern’s ring shines a light on all of us that inspires us to want go out and help others. Not only that, but God’s Spirit is contagious, so the more people that we help, the more people we inspire to want help even more people. A super hero who inspires more super heroes: that’s our beloved Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Gary V. Simpson.