The Reverend Elijah R. Zehyoue is currently serving as an Associate Pastor and Pastoral Resident at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Prior to Calvary, Elijah served in various ministry settings including working at University Baptist Church in Baton Rouge on the Youth and Pastoral ministry leadership teams and with Passport Summer Camps as a Pastor and Director. Most recently, Elijah was an Associate Pastor for Youth at University Church in Hyde Park, Chicago. An essential element of Elijah’s ministry is his work at the intersection of faith and public life, including advocating for religious liberty, social justice, and racial justice causes through writing, speaking, preaching and working with various ecumenical advocacy organizations in Washington and nationwide including the National Council of Churches, the Interfaith Criminal Justice Commission, the Alliance of Baptist, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Baptist News Global, and The New Baptist Covenant.
Elijah is originally from Liberia, West Africa, but grew up in Baton Rouge, La. He is the proud son of Anthony and Annie Zehyoue and has 4 siblings. He was also recently engaged to Lauren Green.
Elijah earned his B.A. in History, concentrating in African and African American Religious and Political history with honors: summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College and his Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School where he concentrated on Black Theology, American Religious History, and Social and Political Ethics. For his master’s thesis Elijah researched the Effects of the Liberian Civil War that culminated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He argued that the TRC (as it is commonly known) is an example of Public Theology that should be considered and replicated in other regions experiencing conflicting and tension, including our own. Studying Liberia’s past is not just an academic interest, but also a spiritual discipline. At just the age of 2, Elijah’s family fled the Liberian Civil War with the help of a pastor. His ministry is shaped by that experience and as pastor he feels called to care about people the way that pastor cared about his family.
Elijah has also been shaped by the experience of living as a Liberian and Black American. He understands himself to have a “triple consciousness” building off of W.E.B. Dubois’ “double-consciousness”. Elijah lives in the world as African, Black, and American and hopes that this experience helps him deeply understands the many wounds we carry. He hopes to work through the church to heal those wounds and build bridges to connect the many aspects of our world that are distant and separate.
Elijah is also a big New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers football fan, avid reader, and loves great conversations. Elijah looks forward to having a great conversation with you and joining together to do God’s work in this world.
Columns:
Jesus and Our Restrictive Pools
Sermons:
There Is Something About Mary (video)
The Voice of God is Over the Waters
Winter is Here, but Summer is Coming
#Sayhername: A Shout out to my Sisters in the Wilderness
Jesus and our Restrictive Swimming Pools
Father Into Your Hands (video)
Limping Between Two Branches: A Fiery Commentary on the First Commandment