Reverend Winford Kennadean Rice Jr., commonly known as “Kenny,” is the proud son of Winford K. Rice Sr. and Crystal S. Rice from Suffolk, Virginia, and has one sister, Jasmine Rice.

Reverend Rice is a 2014 Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion & Philosophy, and was the top ranking scholar in the department of Religion. While at the college, Kenny served as the President of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel Assistants program, presidential ambassador, NAACP political action co-chair, UPS Scholar, congressional intern for Rep. John Lewis through the Congressional Black Caucus, traveled to Toyko, Nagaski and Hiroshima, Japan as a peace ambassador for the non-proliferation of nuclear weaponry  and was named the 2013-2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar. Additionally, he was initiated as a member of the distinguished Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and published his first work in an anthology of sermons by the Academy of Preachers in 2013. Reverend Rice has since been cited in the New York Times.

Reverend Rice was licensed and ordained by Dr. Steven G. Blunt at First Baptist Church, Mahan in Suffolk, Virginia. He is a 2017 graduate of  Harvard University’s Divinity School (HDS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he received his Master of Divinity degree as a Ministry Fellow. While at Harvard, Reverend Rice proudly served as the Youth and Young Adult Pastor of the Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Reverend Rice also served as a Religious Services Fellow and prison chaplain for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Corrections in Chicago, Illinois, where his research examined the correlation between the usage of religious services and reduced recidivism rates for detainees in Cook County (Chicago). Additionally, Reverend Rice was the 2014-2015 Scholar in Residence at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts.

In March of 2017, Reverend Rice was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. College of Pastoral Leadership at Morehouse College for his commitment to bridging civil societies, political institutions, and religious communities after having traveled to Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, South Africa. He was also featured as one of the Late Night New Voices at the 103rd Annual Hampton Minister’s Conference in Hampton, Virginia. In 2018, Reverend Rice graduated from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia with a Master of Theology degree, specifically focusing on political and practical theologies. Rev. Rice formerly served as the Minister of Outreach and Men’s Ministries at Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia where Dr. Cynthia Hale is Pastor. Currently, Reverend Rice proudly serves as the Senior Pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Historic Vine City (Atlanta) and as an Adjunct Professor of Religion at Morehouse College in the Religion and Philosophy Department. He is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree at Emory University in biblical hermeneutics.

Above all, Reverend Rice is passionate about preaching, pastoring, and people, and seeks to bridge the church and the academy by serving in the parish with both head and heart. In all things that he does, he aims to preach the gospel, and if necessary, uses words.