About Our Pastor

The Reverend Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner is a woman of many "firsts." In October 2004, she became the first woman to serve as Senior Pastor of the Memorial Baptist Church, and in December 2024, the first woman elected Moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association of New York City & Vicinity.  Pastor Renee, as she is lovingly known, was the first woman locally to succeed her husband as pastor, and the first elected as senior pastor of an established Baptist Church in Harlem. On July 7, 2006, she married the Reverend Dr. Sean P. Gardner, Sr., Senior Pastor of the East Ward Missionary Baptist Church, thus becoming the first woman locally to serve simultaneously as senior pastor of one congregation and First Lady of another. 

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Moderator Washington Gardner is a skilled preacher, teacher, counselor and administrator. She was one of an elite group of 25 women pastors selected nationally for Lott Carey's Striving and Thriving program. She has held leadership positions with a number of national and community-based organizations focused on education, the arts, and health. During the COVID pandemic, Pastor Renee was a leader in creating access to testing and vaccinations in underserved communities. A credentialed chaplain, she has served in that capacity with the Veterans' Administration and the New York Transit Authority. 

Organizations such as the National Action Network, the Balm in Gilead, and the NAACP, along with civic and political leaders including President Joe Biden, Senators Hilary Clinton, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer; former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and legendary Representative Charlie Rangel have lauded her. 

The Reverend Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner is a graduate of the New York Theological Seminary's Eastern Baptist Extension Program in Urban Ministry, and is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the St. Thomas Christian College.  

Pastor Renee is the mother of five sons and grandmother of 15. Her blessed assurance is frequently heard in her testimony, "When I think of the goodness of Jesus, and of all that He's done for me, my soul cries out 'Hallelujah!,' I thank God for saving me!"