Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Harry R. Jackson Jr. (February 4, 1953 – November 9, 2020) was an American Christian pastor, Pentecostal bishop, and author who served as the senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, and served as the presiding bishop of the International Communion of Evangelical Churches. He was also a social conservative activist and commentator and was known for his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. Jackson was the founder and chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, an organization of ministers who promote socially conservative causes, and was a co-founder of The Reconciled Church Initiative. Jackson died in November 2020 of unknown causes.

Early life Jackson was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of Harry Jackson Sr. and Essie Jackson. His family moved to Ohio from Florida three years before Jackson was born because a white policeman in Florida had nearly killed Jackson's father. Jackson became involved in political activism as a child with his mother. He attended Cincinnati Country Day School. In an interview, Jackson stated that he had been "the black kid at Country Day who stayed in the houses of wealthy white people". He received a tryout with the New England Patriots, but did not make the team.

Jackson's family moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973, eventually settling in Silver Spring, Maryland. Jackson obtained a high-level executive job at Republic Steel.

Jackson was the founder and chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, an organization composed of ministers who actively promote socially conservative causes.

Jackson concurred with Pope Benedict XVI's belief that condom distribution increases the incidence of AIDS. In 2009, Jackson wrote: "I agree with the Pope that a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease."

Jackson argued that some police departments ought to be defunded and encouraged conservatives not to minimize the deaths of black men in the custody of law enforcement.

Personal life and death Jackson married his first wife, Vivian Michele Alexander, in 1976. Vivian served as a co-pastor of Hope Christian Church; she died in 2018. In September 2020, Jackson married Rosalind Lott. No cause of death was given.