Raphael Gamaliel Warnock

Senator Warnock was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in the January 5, 2021, special election runoff, and took the oath of office on January 20, 2021. Senator Warnock is a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, where he chairs the important Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, as well as the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, where he chairs the key Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection subcommittee; Senator Warnock also serves on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Senate Aging Committee, and the bicameral Joint Economic Committee. He also serves as senior pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is the spiritual home of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A preacher known for his activism and voice in the public square, Dr. Raphael Warnock is the author of The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety & Public Witness (NYU Press, 2014). Before coming to EBC, “America’s Freedom Church,” Warnock was blessed to study and serve within the pastoral ranks of leading congregations also known for their deep spiritual roots and strong public witness. Warnock holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Morehouse College and a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Warnock continued his graduate studies at Union, receiving a Master of Philosophy degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the field of systematic theology.

My Truth

I want to develop a set of strategies and networks that will catalyze a national, multi-faith movement to end mass incarceration in the United States of America. I aim to build on the work that my church is already doing in this area, as we have coordinated various entities of our local county government in massive one-day criminal arrest record expungement events in our church, changing the lives of hundreds of citizens who were previously barred from housing and employment opportunities. Those in the interfaith community are uniquely positioned to draw upon their ancient traditions, moral vocabulary and the institutional strength of collective witness to address this human rights catastrophe in a way commensurate to the depth of the problem.