Kenneth Darryl Ray Clayton is the Senior Pastor of the St. Luke Baptist Church of Paterson, NJ. A native of
Paterson, he is the oldest of three children born to Vivian Clayton and the late George Clayton and is a product of schools
of this city.
At a young age, he confessed Christ as his personal savior, was baptized and became a member of the Shiloh Baptist
Church of Paterson. In April of 1988, he acknowledged his call to the preaching ministry, and was subsequently given
license to preach by the Shiloh Church on September 18, 1988.
In 1990, he united with the Calvary Baptist Church of Garfield, NJ, under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Dr. Calvin
McKinney. In 1991, he was added to the church staff in a full time position.
Rev. Clayton is a graduate of Upsala College of East Orange, NJ where he earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in Busi ness
Administration. He graduated from New York Theological Seminary where he earned the Master of Divinity degree, in
1997. He is currently enrolled at New York Theological Seminary pursuing the Doctor of Ministry degree with a focus on
preaching.
He is past President of the United Missionary Baptist Convention of NJ, Inc., and past Moderator of the Shiloh Baptist
Association of NJ. In 2014 he was appointed to serve as the Statistician of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. He is
also an Executive Board Member of the Hampton University Ministers Conference.
In 1996, Rev. Clayton was called to serve as the Assistant Pastor of the St. Luke Baptist Church of Paterson, NJ then under
the leadership of the Rev. Dr. A. M. Tyler. He began service to St. Luke on Easter Sunday of 1997. At Rev. Tyler’s death,
Rev. Clayton was named Acting Pastor and on Wednesday, October 22, 1997 the St. Luke Church officially extended the
call to Rev. Clayton to serve as the sixth (and youngest) pastor in their history.
Under his leadership, St. Luke has experienced significant quantitative and qualitative spiritual, and physical growth as the
St. Luke Church emphasizes worship, discipleship, fellowship, outreach, and service as its primary purposes.
In addition to developing a full time staff to accommodate the needs of this growing congregation, Pastor Clayton has
postured the congregation to begin serving through ministries that extend beyond the walls of the church building into
the Paterson community. The church gives significantly to home and foreign missions, and provides financial assistance
to students, and a wide-range of institutions and organizations. The church is seen weekly in the Paterson area through a
church sponsored television broadcast, “Determined”, featuring the preaching/teaching ministry of Pastor Clayton. In 2007
he led the congregation in building a school on the continent of Africa. St. Luke was also hosted a satellite site for Felician
College under his leadership.
As President of the Board of the St. Luke Community Development Center he has led the entity to sponsor Christhouse (a
food and clothing center), an After School Program, and a Summer Camp. In collaboration with the Children’s Defense
Fund St. Luke CDC opened Paterson’s First Freedom School in 2010. The St. Luke CDC has also helped to build houses, a
technology center, and other vital community renewal programs including the Summer Youth Employment Program, that
partnered with area businesses to provide meaningful summer employment to youth.
Widely traveled, Rev. Clayton has preached extensively throughout the country.
Realizing that he is a servant of God and God’s people, Rev. Clayton is an advocate for human
rights and social justice. He has been featured in local and national media outlets for his ad-
vocacy in our community. He is a life member and current President of the Paterson Branch
NAACP.
In addition to a broad preaching ministry, he is also a frequent teacher and lecturer. He has lec-
tured and/or preached at New York Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary.
He has served as an Adjunct Professor for Palmer Theological Seminary’s (former-
ly Eastern Baptist Seminary) Certificate in Christian Ministry Program.
He is the recipient of numerous awards and citations too numerous to mention.
Among his many notable honors, was his 2006 induction to the prestigious Martin
Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College of Atlanta, Georgia.
Rev. Clayton is the proud father of twin sons Kenneth and Kendrick. He prides
himself as, “A Pastor Determined to Know Christ and Make Him Known.”
May and June Edition
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