The journey of a preacher, builder, and advocate — told through the record his family and church have kept.
Reginald Thomas Jackson was born on April 26, 1954, in Dover, Delaware, the third of four brothers born to Charles and Lillian Jackson. His father worked at Delaware State College and his mother in food services at Wesley College — both now part of Delaware State University. He was raised on hard work, humility, and service.
He found his calling early, preaching as a youth at his church in Dover. A formative moment came at Dover High School, where he ran for student government president and lost by a handful of votes — several classmates who supported him simply had not voted. The lesson never left him. “No vote, no clout” became a phrase people would associate with him for the rest of his life.
He was licensed to preach in 1972 at Mt. Zion AME Church in Dover. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Delaware State College in 1976, was ordained an Itinerant Deacon in 1975 and an Itinerant Elder in 1977, and received his Master of Divinity in 1979 from Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. It was there that he formed a lifelong friendship with the Rev. Frederick Wright, later the 142nd Bishop of the AME Church, who would become godfather to his daughter, Regina.
His first pastoral assignment was St. John AME Church in Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1979 to 1981. In 1981, Bishop Richard Allen Hildebrand appointed him pastor of St. Matthew AME Church in Orange — telling him, in words he never forgot, that he was being sent “to a place where you can make your break.”
He made it. Over a 31-year pastorate, St. Matthew grew from roughly 75 members to more than 2,800, became known as “The Servant Church of the Oranges,” and launched more than 30 ministries reaching students, seniors, and the wider community. The annual budget grew from $50,000 to $2 million, two new church edifices were built, and a community development corporation was formed.
In July 2012, at the General Conference in Nashville, he was elected and consecrated the 132nd Bishop of the AME Church. His first episcopal assignment was the 20th Episcopal District — Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Uganda — where he also served as the Church’s Ecumenical and Urban Affairs Officer. From 2016 to 2024 he led the Sixth Episcopal District in Georgia, overseeing more than 500 congregations and chairing the boards of Morris Brown College and Turner Theological Seminary; under his leadership the district cleared its debts and Morris Brown regained its accreditation. In 2024 he was assigned to the Second Episcopal District — Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. — where he took as his theme the message that had defined him: “The Church At Its Best.”
He held honorary doctorates from Payne Theological Seminary, the Interdenominational Theological Center, and Wilberforce University. He was a life member of the NAACP, a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and a board member of the Conference of National Black Churches. In October 2025 he was inducted into Morehouse College’s MLK Board of Preachers.
A narrated reflection on Bishop Jackson’s role in his family.