The Reverend Dr. Barbara A. Reynolds is an award-winning journalist and author, and she has appeared on such major television shows as the Oprah Winfrey Show, Politically Incorrect, C-Span, and CNN  She is also heard every Saturday on XM satellite radio on her signature show called, Reynolds Rap  She has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist/writer with some of the major media institutions in America, such as Ebony magazine, Essence magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and she served as an editorial board member and columnist with USA Today for more than 13 years.  She is currently a religion columnist for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which reports a readership of 10 million.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from The Ohio State University, her Masters Degree from the Howard University School of Divinity in 1992, and her Doctorate in Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio in 1998.  She also has been awarded honorary doctorates in humane letters from Shenandoah University and her alma mater, Ohio State University.  Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr. ordained her an elder at the Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church in 1995.

Dr. Reynolds is also a consultant to several major universities and public officials on media strategies, and served in that capacity during the O.J. Simpson trial for NBC television.  Dr. Reynolds has preached in many churches and for many denominations across the United States.  In 1997, she became one of the first African-American female ministers asked to serve as Chaplain of the Week at Chautauqua Institution, which is a Christian resort center where presidents from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton have vacationed in that meditative spiritual setting.  In 2005, she was the speaker for the 89^th Annual Convocation of the Howard University School of Divinity.

As a professor, Dr. Reynolds has held the Jessie Ball Dupont Chair in Journalism at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, served as a Freedom Forum Scholar for the 1998 school year in journalism at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and has taught Contemporary Issues: The Role of Faith and Spirituality in American Journalism and Mass Media at the Howard University School of Communications.  In 1997 she launched a citywide deliverance ministry for female substance abusers, called “Harriet’s Children,” which is headquartered at Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church.  She currently teaches prophetic ministry at the Howard University School of Divinity and the Black Presence in the Bible at the Calvary Bible Institute, where she serves on the Board of Directors.

Her books include Jesse Jackson: America’s David, an unauthorized biography; And Still We Rise: Interviews with 50 African-American Role Models; No I Won’t Shut Up! 30 Years of Telling It Like It Is; and Out of Hell & Living Well: Healing From the Inside Out. In   August 2007, she released her fifth book, entitled Doing Good in the Hood: The Life, Leadership & Legacy of Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.

Dr. Reynolds is the recipient of many honors including the “Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Award,” the “1999 Journalist of the Year Award” from the National Association of Black Journalists, “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Columbia University (Missouri) School of Journalism, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University where she studied constitutional law.  Bishop Alfred Owens, Pastor of Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church, named her Woman of the Year for 2004.  In 1995 she was voted into Leadership Washington, which is self-described as a powerful network of leaders affecting the Washington metropolitan area.  In 2006, she served as a commissioner of the Katrina Truth and Justice Commission under the auspices of the Dr. Samuel D. Proctor Conference.

Dr. Reynolds lives in Prince George’s County with her son, John Eric Reynolds, who is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.