MEET THE PASTOR
Dr. Ray A. Owens
Dr. Ray A. Owens leads a multifaceted life as husband, father, pastor-scholar and public intellectual. He served as Assistant Pastor and Youth Minister at Union Baptist Church of Trenton, N.J.; a public school teacher in South Central Los Angeles, California; and Fund Development Director for Teach for America in New York City.
In 1989, Dr. Owens earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1998. In spring 2005, he received the cum laude distinction for his doctoral dissertation and earned the Doctorate of Philosophy in Religion and Society from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Dr. Owens has a passion for issues related to youth and education. His doctoral dissertation (which is currently being revised for publication) addresses the contemporary crisis in black education through mining the resources of African American religion. Dr. Owens has spoken widely on topics related to his research and provided insights about education in black communities. He has delivered addresses to various educational institutions, including universities, K-12 schools, conferences, synagogues, and churches.
Since Rev. Owens’ became the Senior Pastor in 2006, The Met has more than tripled its membership base, weekly attendance and annual budget. All the while, Dr. Owens was the overseer of a capital campaign to fund the construction of a 45,000 square foot facility to accommodate the growing congregation in which they moved into in November of …. In addition to his pastoral duties, Rev. Owens has taught religious studies courses at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa and Texas Christian University. He currently serves as the Affiliate Assistant Professor of Ethics and Black Church Studies at Phillips Theological Seminary.
Dr. Owens is deeply involved in the Tulsa community. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan YMCA and Impact Tulsa Leadership Council. He is also an active member of both Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.