Rev. Kevin C. Peterson is a public theologian, reparationist, author, filmmaker, civic leader, and democracy advocate whose work is grounded in the liberating traditions of Black Christianity. Rooted in the Pentecostal and Holiness traditions and informed by the Black Social Gospel, Peterson understands Christian faith as a catalyst for both personal transformation and public liberation. His theology begins with the lived realities of communities whose “backs are against the wall,” in Howard Thurman’s phrase, and asks what faith requires in the face of racism, poverty, violence, political exclusion, and historical dispossession. For Peterson, theology must extend beyond the sanctuary into public institutions, civic life, politics, culture, and every setting in which human dignity is at stake. His preaching and scholarship in Christian social ethics are guided by a central conviction: the work of the Church is ultimately the work of repair.

Peterson’s ministry brings together the Black prophetic Christian tradition and a broad vision of public theology. He has preached and taught throughout the United States and internationally, including in Bamako, Mali; Accra, Ghana; and Abuja, Nigeria, calling churches to reclaim their roles as agents of justice, reconciliation, democratic renewal, and social transformation. Influenced by theologians and religious thinkers such as Howard Thurman and Walter Earl Fluker, Peterson maintains that “the ground has shifted” beneath contemporary ministry and that Christian leadership must respond thoughtfully and creatively to changing social conditions. His academic and theological preparation includes a Master’s degree in Urban Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a second Master’s degree from Boston University School of Theology, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Wayland Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also pursuing advanced doctoral study at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he continues to develop his work at the intersection of public theology, Christian ethics, democracy, and repair.

Peterson has consistently translated his theological commitments into institutional and civic action. He founded the New Democracy Coalition, through which he has worked for decades to expand Black political participation, register voters, and advance civic education and engagement. He played a significant role in Massachusetts redistricting advocacy that helped establish the political conditions for a congressional district capable of electing a Black representative, a development associated with the historic election of Ayanna Pressley to Congress. He also created the Democracy Lab for youth, providing young people with opportunities to explore civic leadership, electoral politics, organizing, and democratic participation. In the area of public safety, Peterson developed the concept of the “Murder Triangle,” highlighting the concentrated geographic and social conditions associated with homicides in Boston and advocating community-centered approaches to violence reduction. He later became a founder of the Boston Reparations Commission, extending his civic leadership into the work of historical acknowledgment, institutional accountability, and racial repair.

Reparations are a central focus of Peterson’s contemporary public work. Through Reparations Untold: An American Story, his documentary filmmaking, The Book of Reparations, public advocacy, and the Reparations Academy: Walking Justly, he advances an understanding of reparations that extends beyond compensation to encompass a comprehensive framework for democratic repair. The Reparations Academy equips students, activists, faith leaders, and community members to examine the history of racial injustice, reparations policy, economics, organizing, and the moral foundations of repair. Peterson connects acknowledgment, atonement, restitution, reconciliation, and institutional transformation to the broader project of building a genuinely multiracial democracy. Through film, writing, teaching, policy advocacy, and the Reparations Nation podcast, he is cultivating an intellectual and public platform for understanding reparations as both a moral obligation and a means of strengthening democratic life.

Peterson is further advancing this vision through the development of The Church Repair Kit, also known as The Church Repair for a Just Society and Advanced Christian Studies, an emerging center dedicated to preaching, theological education, Christian social ethics, advanced study, and the formation of leaders committed to repairing Church and society. The initiative integrates the spiritual resources of his Pentecostal and Holiness heritage, the social vision of the Black Social Gospel, and the intellectual rigor of public theology. Across ministry, democracy work, reparations advocacy, filmmaking, education, and public policy, Kevin C. Peterson’s vocation is unified by a guiding proposition: what has been broken can and must be repaired.

His public theology rejects both despair and passive faith, calling individuals and institutions toward courageous action, deeper democracy, restored communities, and a more just society—grounded in the conviction that Victory Is Assured!

Rev. Peterson is married to Pastor Nicole M. Peterson, a renowned minister and evangelist who hosts the weekly online gathering The Prayer Chamber. Together, they live in Boston’s Roxbury section, where their shared ministry and public commitments remain connected to the life, history, and aspirations of the community.