The Philadelphia Council of Clergy is proud to announce that we will be honoring Rev Bill Krispin with the Martin Luther King "Honor the Dreamers" Lifetime Achievement Award, on Monday, January 18, 2020 at 7pm at our Virtual Awards Gala. The event can be viewed on a Facebook-live stream, or on our Youtube Channel.
Bill Krispin has been ministering in Philadelphia for over 50 years. He has served as an urban church planter, and pastor of multiple churches. He founded the Center for Urban Theological Studies, and served as Executive director for over 20 years. Most recently, he served as the Executive Director of CityNet Ministries and as curriculum consultant and instructor at the True Word Theological Seminary in East Asia. Now retired, Bill serves as senior research associate for Common Grace, Inc. He personally mentors pastors across Philadelphia, Georgia, and some abroad as well. Though he says that his greatest honor is that he has been married for over 50 years to his wife Mary, with whom he shares 5 children and 15 grandchildren.
Though he is a humble servant of Christ, his influence on pastors across Philadelphia cannot be quantified. For decades, he has pushed pastors to work together instead of building self serving empires (or dying alone in the field). Those who know him, know his passion for "Unity between Christians" that focuses on our shared faith and relationships with Christ, instead of our denominational differences. And, if you hear a pastor say "What can we do together, that we cannot do alone" you'll know they've been influenced by Bill Krispin. It has taken decades, but there are now multiple movements in Philadelphia, seeking to bring pastors and churches together as 'One' in Christ, to serve shared neighborhoods or people groups. For, there are enough people out there who do not know Jesus or do not have a church home, to fill EVERY church pew in the city. So, we don't need to fight over them. We need to reach out to them, bring them into the family of Jesus, and let them land at the local congregation that suits them best. If we work together to reach "every person in the city", every church in the city will be overflowing. This is a message Bill Krispin has chirped for decades and finally, more and more pastors and leaders are joining in the song.
So, we at Philadelphia Council of Clergy are excited to honor Bill Krispin for his relentless service to our city, and more importantly, to our Savior. He exemplifies John 17:20-23 where Jesus said, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me"
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