| Reverend Kip Bernard Banks, Sr. |
| Pastor, East Washington Heights Baptist Church |
“And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them that are the called
according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
to them that love God, to them that are the called
according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
The Reverend Kip Bernard Banks, Sr. serves as the Senior Pastor of the East Washington
Heights Baptist Church of Washington, DC. He is the church’s first African American Pastor
and is working to build-up an intergenerational family of disciples who love God, love neighbors
and transform the community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A native of Los Angeles, CA and a graduate of that city’s public school system, Banks received
a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Selected as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, Rev. Banks also completed master of public policy and
urban planning degrees from the University of Michigan. In addition, he holds a master of
divinity degree from the Howard University School of Divinity.
Before being called to East Washington’s pulpit, Rev. Banks served as Assistant Pastor of the
historic Second Baptist Church in Washington, DC and as a consultant to the Alban Institute,
an association of the nation’s mainline protestant denominations. He has also served as Director
of Theological Education with the Congress of National Black Churches and oversaw efforts to
empower Black ministerial alliances on a nationwide basis. In their June 1, 1998 issue,
Newsweek magazine recognized Banks as one of the “Lord’s Foot Soldiers” in the battle to
reach at-risk-youth.
Among his many public and civic involvements, Rev. Banks has served as a senior aide to the U.
S. Senate Budget Committee and Director of Government Relations with the American Public
Transit Association. He also serves as the Progressive National Baptist Convention’s Capitol
Hill liaison and on the board of the Nannie Helen Burroughs School.
Rev. Banks and his wife Dollie are the parents of three children, Carolyne Marie, Margaret
Katherine and Kip Bernard, Jr.
Heights Baptist Church of Washington, DC. He is the church’s first African American Pastor
and is working to build-up an intergenerational family of disciples who love God, love neighbors
and transform the community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A native of Los Angeles, CA and a graduate of that city’s public school system, Banks received
a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Selected as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, Rev. Banks also completed master of public policy and
urban planning degrees from the University of Michigan. In addition, he holds a master of
divinity degree from the Howard University School of Divinity.
Before being called to East Washington’s pulpit, Rev. Banks served as Assistant Pastor of the
historic Second Baptist Church in Washington, DC and as a consultant to the Alban Institute,
an association of the nation’s mainline protestant denominations. He has also served as Director
of Theological Education with the Congress of National Black Churches and oversaw efforts to
empower Black ministerial alliances on a nationwide basis. In their June 1, 1998 issue,
Newsweek magazine recognized Banks as one of the “Lord’s Foot Soldiers” in the battle to
reach at-risk-youth.
Among his many public and civic involvements, Rev. Banks has served as a senior aide to the U.
S. Senate Budget Committee and Director of Government Relations with the American Public
Transit Association. He also serves as the Progressive National Baptist Convention’s Capitol
Hill liaison and on the board of the Nannie Helen Burroughs School.
Rev. Banks and his wife Dollie are the parents of three children, Carolyne Marie, Margaret
Katherine and Kip Bernard, Jr.