THE FOUNDER
Bishop Joseph Warren Walker, III
“My message to this generation is that every generation has left
something of substance on record which extends beyond two to three
generations forward. However, this generation has bought into the
trappings of this world and currently has nothing of substance to give. No
one knows what to do with this generation. And I asked God to build me up
to guide them. They need positive and relevant leadership.”
– Bishop Joseph Warren Walker III
Every generation has a Daniel; a leader who resurrects the hope of a
people who are searching for a reason to believe. Bishop Joseph Warren
Walker, III, the charismatic, 40-year-old pastor of Mount Zion
Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee is a valiant hope-bearer with the
spiritual conviction, moral aptitude and acumen to return a people back to
God. Of this mammoth calling, Bishop Walker says “historically, our
community has had a voice from the church. This generation does not have
that voice. God has given me the ability to capture the hearts and minds
of this generation for which there is a call for great stewardship.”
Reared in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1970’s, Walker grew up in the
household governed by Rosa and Joseph Walker Jr. Walker’s father, who
Walker states was a strong disciplinarian, owned and operated a janitorial
service during his son’s adolescent years. “Our summer days, throughout
most of my youth, were spent working with my father”, states Walker. “I
gained my strong work ethic through that experience.” Walker’s father
extended the foundation of work ethic to include spiritual service as
Walker Jr. held the position of Superintendent of Sunday school. This
leadership role in the church meant that Walker’s public school education
would be accompanied by a sound biblical foundation.
Walker pursued his secondary education at the historical black institution
of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he received his
B.A. degree. He credits the institution with giving him the wisdom
necessary to occupy his current post as Bishop of Senior Pastors within
the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship [the lead organization for which
Walker’s Mount Zion Baptist Church is governed by] under the leadership of
International Presiding Bishop Paul S. Morton. “My undergraduate years
gave me the fraternal instincts necessary in building the ministry that we
have at Mount Zion today. My instructors nurtured me, my self esteem was
built at Southern. More importantly, the camaraderie that existed, as a
direct result of my fraternal activities (he is a member of Omega Psi
Phi), played a major role in the development of my current leadership
style. As a result of my tenure at the University, I understand that there
is a reservoir of blessings that comes forth when a selfish mentality does
not exist.” His undergraduate era would also serve as the period Walker
would reconcile his calling for ministry with God, and the platform for
meeting his future wife, Dr. Diane Greer Walker.
Walker went on to earn a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tennessee. Princeton Theological Seminary would charter the
next dispensation of Walker’s education, where he gained a deeper
appreciation for the societal relevance of the Christian faith, church
governance, and public policy. However, it would be the opportunity to
commune with the country’s leading academic minds that would prove most
invaluable to Walker. Walker’s ability to make faith relevant to an
ethically diverse, multigenerational congregation would be the result.
“It’s about not building an eight-track ministry for a CD generation.
Reaching the unreachable and doing radical application of biblical
principles is necessary in spreading the Gospel to this generation.”
In 1992, at the age of 24, Walker began his pastorate at Mount Zion with
175 members. Presently, the ministry has grown to over 21,000 and
continues to grow at a phenomenal rate of over 1,800 souls per year. Under
Bishop Walker’s leadership, Mount Zion’s ministry has expanded beyond its
original location in the Historic Jefferson Street Corridor to eight
weekly services in three locations. In the year of 2001, the church
completed a $17 million dollar, state-of-the-art ministry complex that
seats 5,000. This second location was the first phase of a $60 million
dollar, twelve-year building project. In December 2003, Mount Zion
completed a third location in Antioch, TN. Named Mount Zion Plaza, this
project consists of a $7 million dollar retail and ministry complex. This
now debt-free ministry complex serves as a multi-purpose facility that
accommodates 2,000 at one sitting.
Walker’s commitment to moral leadership and unyielding integrity to this
generation would be tested during a period Walker describes as “Between
Sundays”. “Between Sundays”, the soon to be released book which is
authored by Bishop Walker, serves as the voice of reconciliation as Walker
discerns the death of his wife Diane to stomach cancer, in 2005. In
amazement, his pre and post sacrifice in the continuation of ministry has
become a benchmark of his stewardship. Of which he gallantly states,
“Through this experience I realize now that I can be trusted, much like
Job, with trouble. And when God trusts us he gives us the privilege of
suffering so that others would be blessed.”
Walker has founded the non-profit organization J. W. Walker Ministries,
which has awarded over $500,000 in scholarships to deserving college
students in her honor.
In fact, Bishop Walker’s firm economic philosophy for the urban community
has become a benchmark in his ministry. Regarding the infringement of
disparity within the economic boundaries of the African American community
specifically, Walker states his work resides in the reversal of economic
irresponsibility. “We [the Mount Zion Ministry] are turning over the stone
of economic irresponsibility in our community by investing in programs and
partnering with outside agencies to bring about a change.” Walker, who
currently holds a Governor-appointed post of the Tennessee Human Rights
Commission, has championed the additional causes of healthcare and
multicultural and generation separation. Walker considers the ministry’s
civil achievements paramount to the healing occurring within the African
American community as a whole. He currently serves on the Board of
Directors for the American Red Cross, the Nashville Vanderbilt Club, and
the Advisory Counsel for Simmons College of Kentucky.
Beyond the resilient works of Mount Zion, and his facilitation of J. W.
Walker Ministries, the savvy businessman presides over the communication
company, Exodus Productions. The Production Company harbors video, audio
and print production services. Regarding Exodus, Walker believes that the
influence garnered from the production company in the area of media is
considered a mantle within the realm of his business accomplishments.
Vowing never to abandon the neighborhood where Mount Zion was founded,
Walker founded the New Level Community Development Corporation in 2001.
Walker serves as vice-chairman of New Level CDC, which is committed to
low-and moderate-income families and to community economic development.
Incorporated within the assertive listing of Bishop Walker’s activities
are his outreach communication services which include a continuous torrent
of webcasts via Streaming Faith.com, six weekly television broadcasts and
a daily radio ministry. The broadcasts air across the United States on The
Word Network and TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) on which he is
featured as a regular host and guest.
Bishop Walker, who because of his business acumen was voted in 2004 ‘Top
40 under 40’ by the Tennessee Business Magazine, enlarged his scope of
business fairings to include the area of music, under the auspices of his
J3 Enterprises, a sub label imprint of Light Records. Under his directive,
the Mount Zion Dove-nominated Choir has recorded three stellar albums
entitled “Worship in His Presence”, “Praise in His Presence”, and “Shout
in the Spirit”. Most recently, Walker became the visionary behind Mount
Zion’s youth choir, Judah Generation, who recorded their debut album,
“Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III Presents Judah Generation”.
Uncertain times call for sound guidance. Through his life and ministry,
Bishop Joseph Warren Walker, III, has demonstrated a caliber of leadership
well beyond his years. He is rapidly becoming the voice of a silenced
generation whose cry for substantive national leadership has yet to be
answered.
January 2008