|
Born in Richmond, Virginia, the Rev. Delman Lamont Coates was licensed to preach the Gospel at the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Richmond on August 8, 1991. He graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion in May 1995, and received the Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA in May 1998. While at Harvard, Rev. Coates served as the Interim Pastor of the United Baptist Church in Boston, MA.
In September 1998, Rev. Coates was admitted to the Ph.D. program in the Department of Religion at Columbia University in New York City. While at Columbia, he served as the Youth Pastor at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey from 1999-2004. During this time, Rev. Coates was also employed in the Community Development Grants unit of JP Morgan Chase & Co., providing grants to faith-based institutions and non-profit organizations engaged in the development of affordable housing, childcare centers, and other community and economic development projects. In February 2002, he received the Master of Philosophy degree in Religion from Columbia University.
In February 2006, Rev. Coates received the Doctor of Philosophy degree in New Testament & Early Christianity from Columbia University (Department of Religion). His area of specialization is patristic exegesis and interpretation. His research interests include: the history of early Christian scriptural interpretation, the history of modern New Testament studies, and contemporary biblical hermeneutics. His dissertation entitled, "Resistance Reading: Reconsidering the Functions of Early Christian Allegory," examines the cultural-critical function of early Christian "spiritual exegesis" or allegorical interpretation.
His published articles entitled, "And the Bible Says: Methodological Tyranny of Biblical Fundamentalism and Historical Criticism" in Blow The Trumpet In Zion (2004); "Towards a Progressive Christian Interpretive Praxis" in The African-American Pulpit (Fall 2004); and "Origen of Alexandria" in Union Seminary Quarterly Review: New Testament and Roman Empire: Shifting Paradigms for Interpretation (vol. 59:3-4, 2005) examine the implications of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern interpretive methodologies for contemporary biblical hermeneutics.
Since February 6, 2004,
Rev. Coates has served as the Pastor of the Mt. Ennon
Baptist Church in Clinton, MD. In three and one-half (3 1/2) years, the
congregation of 4,000 has experienced a considerable
amount of spiritual and numerical growth, adding 2,000
new disciples, initiating and revitalizing ministries,
expanding the church's ministry campus, and impacting
the community for Jesus Christ. Pastor Coates is leading
Mt. Ennon to be "A Caring, Christ-centered, Community
Church, with a Kingdom Agenda."
A member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Morehouse College Board of Preachers, Rev. Coates' preaching and teaching ministry enables him to minister at churches and seminaries across the nation. He is committed to a ministry of spiritual renewal, social justice, and community revitalization. He has been happily married to Yolanda Walsh Coates of San Francisco, California for 11 years, and they are the proud parents of two sons, Nathaniel and Joshua Coates.
|
