Rev. John Vaughn serves as the Executive Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He works closely with the Church’s Senior Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock in managing the overall vison, ministries and operations of this globally know Congregation. As the spiritual home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Ebenezer remains at the forefront of the fight for individual growth and social transformation. Previously, Rev. Vaughn served for almost ten years as the Executive Vice President at Auburn Theological Seminary. Auburn is a national leadership development and research institute that equips leaders of faith and moral courage for multifaith movements for justice.
Before joining the staff of Auburn Seminary, Rev. Vaughn served as the Program Director for the Twenty-First Century Foundation based in Harlem, New York, a national foundation that advanced strategic giving for Black community change. He also previously served as the Executive Director of the Peace Development Fund. The Peace Development Fund provides funding, training and assistance for grassroots peace and justice community organizing throughout the United States and select countries internationally.
From 1996 to 2000, Rev. John H. Vaughn served as the Minister for Education and Social Justice at the Riverside Church in New York City.  His responsibilities included overseeing the Church's ministries with children, youth, young adults, adult education, social justice, social services and small grants.   Rev. Vaughn has also served as the Director for Community
Development at the Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) in Boston, Mass; The executive director of East Harlem Interfaith in New York City; The Action Assistant at The Riverside Church, and the Assistant Minister at the Hamilton United Methodist Church in San Francisco, Ca.
Rev. Vaughn, an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches, received his undergraduate degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass, his Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California and is in his second year of the Doctor of Ministry program at Drew Theological School. He is married to the Rev. Dr. P. Kimberleigh Jordan, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and Wabash Center’s New Associate Director of Educational Design. They are the proud parents of two teenage sons named James and Caleb.
In addition, the virtual breakfast program will feature the release of the first Worcester “Black History Moment,” a video presentation of the Worcester Black History Project, a collaboration with the Worcester Historical Museum.
The first of a series of presentations of local Black history, the inaugural moment features William H. Brown, local businessman and upholsterer.  In 1868 Brown was accepted as the first member of color of the Worcester County Mechanics Association, which recently announced plans to add Brown’s portrait, along with one of Frederick Douglass, to the Great Hall of Mechanics Hall.
Mr. Brown’s papers are in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), the gift of his great-grandson Dr. John Goldsberry and members of his family. Kimberly Toney, Head of Reader Services at AAS and a member of the Black History Project committee, narrates the story of William Brown and Worcester; Robyn Shropshire is the host of “Black History Moments.”
The 2021 Virtual Event is free and open to the public, however anyone wishing to make a donation to the MLK Scholarship Fund, may mail donations to
MLK Community Breakfast
c/o Quinsigamond Community College
670 W. Boylston Street
Worcester, MA  01606
Any questions or inquiries can be directed to Selina Boria at sboria@qcc.mass.edu or 508.854.4368
Event Link