Minister, Educator, Scholar Lerone J. Wilder

Lerone Jonathan Wilder is a minister-educator-scholar who serves as an Assistant Professor of Religion at Newberry College in Newberry, SC. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC. He is also a licensed and ordained minister in the National Baptist tradition, currently serving as Stated Supply Pastor at the historic Mattoon Presbyterian Church (USA) in Greenville, SC.

He received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Political Science with a Minor in Spanish from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC in December 2005. Moreover, he is a 2010 honor graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA, where he earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree.

Furthermore, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at Union Institute & University in June 2019 with a concentration in Ethical and Creative Leadership, along with a specialization in Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies. While at Union, he completed a certificate in Educational Leadership and has been a recipient of the institution’s Doctoral Scholarship Award for successful academic achievement and the Christine R. Day Scholarship Award for his devoted research in the field of Ethics.

His dissertation topic was "An Investigation of the Influence of Seminary Education on Social Activism by Black Baptist Pastors in Greenville, SC". This research supports his interest in delving into the reasons why some churches have moved away from their historical role in African-American communities as places of refuge and as critical spaces for combating social, ethical, and political injustices.