The Reverend Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., is an ordained minister in the Protestant Christian denomination known as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada. He served as OTSE’s board chair from 2017-2019. On January 1, 2019, he became the Executive Director of the Columbus-based Ohio Council of Churches. Dr. Sullivan’s prior ministry been as Senior Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Findlay, OH, Executive Director of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, Senior Pastor of Fifth Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cleveland, OH, and as Regional Minister and President of the Northwest and Pennsylvania Regions, respectively, of his denomination.
A nationally known public speaker, social justice advocate and death penalty abolitionist, Dr. Sullivan is Co-Chair of the Disciples Justice Action Network, and is a member of many community and civic organizations including the murder victims-families-led Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing, and the National Action Network. In addition, he is a life member of both the NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Dr. Sullivan has published an array of writings including a chapter in, “Black Religion After The Million Man March,” edited by Garth Kasimu Baker-Fletcher, Orbis Books, 1998.
A native of Cleveland, OH, Dr. Sullivan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Interpersonal Communication from Ohio University, Athens, OH; a Master of Divinity degree from Lexington Theological Seminary, Lexington, KY; and a Doctor of Ministry degree in Economic and Social Justice from United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH where he studied with Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. and the late Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. He has engaged in doctoral studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA and has received an honorary doctorate from Bethany College, Bethany, WV.
Dr. Sullivan is married to Rev. Sèkinah Hamlin, who is the Director of the Faith and Credit Roundtable for the Center for Responsible Lending, Durham, NC. Together they have five children, Nia, who is Field Officer/Social Worker for the Project Enhancing Girls in Sierra Leone; Imani, of Cleveland, OH; Jacquelyn, a third-year honors student at Guilford College, Greensboro, NC; and Kelly and Jackson, in first grade and pre-kindergarten, respectively.