Jay Gardner

Jay has an ongoing interest in building bridges and making connections. He has worked in congregational ministry and in the biotech industry for many years. He seeks opportunities to bring unlikely partners into dialogue with each other. He currently serves as the pastor of the historic Mount Zion Baptist Church in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Previously, he served for 20 years at the White Rock Baptist Church as the minister to youth and children. There he worked with the Walking the Walk initiative and developed an out-of-school science program bringing together graduate scientists to work with children of the community. Children and families of different faiths came together to study and learn about the world around us through scientific discovery.

Jay has participated in conversations around science and religion and then sought further study and work to bring Christians and Muslims into authentic conversation asking, “Can Muslims and Christians move beyond tolerance and engagement to embrace and pray together?”

Jay earned his B.A. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley, Master of divinity at Princeton Theological seminary and Doctor of Ministry at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.