Full Name
Reverend William F. Richardson, III
Job Title
Pastor
Company
Grace Baptist Church St. Lucie
Speaker Bio
Reverend William F. Richardson III, affectionately known as “Pastor Will”, serves as Pastor of Grace Baptist Church St. Lucie in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the second location of the historic Grace Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, New York.
A proud graduate of Virginia Union University, Pastor Will holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union. He is a trained professional Chaplain through the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Rev. Richardson is a doctoral candidate concentrating in “Mental Wellness as Constitutive to Spirituality” at Duke University Divinity School.
In addition to his pastoral duties, Pastor Will serves as Assistant General Secretary of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and sits on its Executive Board. He also serves as President of the Florida Chapter of the National Action Network, under the leadership of Reverend Al Sharpton.
Behind every aspect of who Pastor Will is stands two remarkable people. His father, Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, has been his pastor, mentor, and theological compass. His mother, First Lady Inez Nunnaly Richardson, remains the quiet and steady force whose nurturing spirit and values continue to shape him today.
Pastor Will is a legacy member of Jack and Jill of America, having been introduced to the organization at the age of seven. He is a proud alumnus of the Westchester Chapter of New York, where his mother served as chapter president. Having grown up in predominantly non-Black communities and attended predominantly white schools, Pastor Will credits the church, his family, and Jack and Jill as foundational to his personal formation and sense of identity. The organization's witness to African American excellence affirmed for him that families like the Huxtables of The Cosby Show were not a fantasy there are, countless loving African American families who are educated, principled, community-conscious, high-achieving and proved that excellence is blackness.
He is beyond grateful to be married to his beloved Joye Akodu Richardson. Together, they are the proud parents of two children, KylaRae and Jaheir. Pastor Will continues his family's extraordinary legacy of faith and service with a ministry marked by humility, clarity, conviction, and hope for the future.
A proud graduate of Virginia Union University, Pastor Will holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union. He is a trained professional Chaplain through the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Rev. Richardson is a doctoral candidate concentrating in “Mental Wellness as Constitutive to Spirituality” at Duke University Divinity School.
In addition to his pastoral duties, Pastor Will serves as Assistant General Secretary of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and sits on its Executive Board. He also serves as President of the Florida Chapter of the National Action Network, under the leadership of Reverend Al Sharpton.
Behind every aspect of who Pastor Will is stands two remarkable people. His father, Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, has been his pastor, mentor, and theological compass. His mother, First Lady Inez Nunnaly Richardson, remains the quiet and steady force whose nurturing spirit and values continue to shape him today.
Pastor Will is a legacy member of Jack and Jill of America, having been introduced to the organization at the age of seven. He is a proud alumnus of the Westchester Chapter of New York, where his mother served as chapter president. Having grown up in predominantly non-Black communities and attended predominantly white schools, Pastor Will credits the church, his family, and Jack and Jill as foundational to his personal formation and sense of identity. The organization's witness to African American excellence affirmed for him that families like the Huxtables of The Cosby Show were not a fantasy there are, countless loving African American families who are educated, principled, community-conscious, high-achieving and proved that excellence is blackness.
He is beyond grateful to be married to his beloved Joye Akodu Richardson. Together, they are the proud parents of two children, KylaRae and Jaheir. Pastor Will continues his family's extraordinary legacy of faith and service with a ministry marked by humility, clarity, conviction, and hope for the future.
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