Reverend Dr. Gregory E. Thomas (STH'01)
Rev
erend Dr. Gregory E. Thomas (STH’01)
Written by Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff, June 7, 2015
One of four children born to James Thomas and the former Hattie Williams, Rev. Thomas grew up in Cleveland. “His father and his uncles were all deacons,” said Rev. Thomas’s wife, the former Janie McMillian, whom he married in 1979. “And his Southern cousins from Georgia on his father’s side, they’re all ministers. So he had ministers and deacons in his family.” After graduating from John Adams High School in Cleveland, Rev. Thomas studied history at what was then Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, where he also played football and graduated in 1970. He met his future wife when both were working in government jobs in Canton, Ohio. Soon after they married, he entered the ministry. He was ordained by a mentor, the Rev. Cornelius Bartley Sr. of New Hope Memorial Baptist Church in Elizabeth, N.J., and later served under the Rev. Robert E. Craig at Willing Spirit Baptist Church in Cincinnati. A job at New England Life Insurance Co. brought Rev. Thomas and his family to Boston. In the blog radio interview with his niece, he recalled receiving an acceptance letter from Harvard Divinity School on his birthday in 1986. He received a master’s in theological studies from Harvard, a doctorate from Boston University’s School of Theology, and was studying for another doctorate at Goethe University in Frankfurt. The Thomas family was living in Newton when he first drove to Haverhill to look at Calvary Baptist Church. “In October of 1988, I was called to be the pastor,” he said in the interview with his niece. “I was still working at New England Life. I was still at Harvard Divinity School.” Juggling duties was a constant for Rev. Thomas. Over the years, he taught at Harvard Divinity School, Goethe University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, and Lesley University, and he was minister-in-residence at Boston University’s Center for Practical Theology. He served on boards including for Habitat for Humanity, Haverhill Housing Partnership, and the United Baptist Convention of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. His honors included being named an Unsung Hero in 2013 by the Merrimack Valley Branch of the NAACP and being inducted into the athletic hall of fame at what is now Baldwin Wallace University. “I am excited about having shared the power of worship, not simply in the church, but in how we live and exercise our faith outside these walls,” he told the Globe in January 2014. In addition to his wife, Rev. Thomas leaves his stepson, Eli Lavelanet of Washington state; his daughter, Jennifer, of Cleveland; two sisters, Jeanie Turpin and Carolyn, both of Ohio; two grandsons; and Rolanda Green, of Wharton, N.J., who grew up with the Thomas family after her parents died. Family, friends, and a host of clergy will gather at Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill to celebrate the life and ministry of Rev. Thomas with worship services at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and a memorial service at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Even though Rev. Thomas had many commitments to the church, to teaching, and to the community, “the most important part of his ministry was bringing people to Christ,” his wife said. “One thing that I learned from him, and that lesson carries me through now, is that he always said to me, ‘Janie, do it because it’s the right thing to do.’ He taught me to love God’s people. No matter what, he said, ‘Love God’s people.’”
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