Lenton Gunn Jr. (1983)

Lenton Gunn was the long-serving pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, elected president of BPU in 1983. He was born in April 1939 in Greensboro, Florida, graduated from Stillman College in 1961 and from Johnson C. Smith seminary in 1964. Gunn served city churches in the midwest before coming to St. James in 1977, and during his tenure maintained the historic church, and partnered with other churches in the pursuit of peace and economic justice. In 1982, as part of the Harlem Peacemaking Community, Gunn mobilized neighbors to call for an end to the nuclear arms race, directly relating military extravagance to neighborhood impoverishment. In 1990 he repaired the church’s limestone steps with a grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. He died in 2002.