The Reverend Canon Doctor Alonzo Clemons Pruitt
The Reverend Canon Alonzo C. Pruitt, TSSF, D. Min., D. D. is a native Chicagoan who grew up on the southside. His social activism began in high school when he picketed a local grocer for selling spoiled meat at higher prices in African American neighborhoods, and he served as an attendant at summer camps for children afflicted with muscular dystrophy, before leading numerous demonstrations at Illinois State University as the Chairman of the Direct Action Committee of the Black Students Association. Alonzo once had a weekly column in the Chicago Defender, and regularly attended both Liberty Baptist Church and St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church. He was a St. Edmund’s acolyte who received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Gerald Burrill, during the historic ministries of Father Samuel Joseph Martin and Father Isaac McDonald.
A graduate of Roosevelt University, having majored in Public Administration, Alonzo also earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to being ordained, he was a Specialist in Community Organization for the Chicago Urban League, a Program Coordinator for Lake Bluff / Chicago Homes for Children, and a Group Home Director for Mary Bartelme Homes. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and was the recipient of the Field Prize for Homiletics, and the Cotton Memorial Award for Oral Reading of the Holy Scriptures.
Ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Quintin E. Primo, Jr., and to the priesthood by Bishop James W. Montgomery, Father Pruitt has served as the Vicar of St. George and St. Matthias Church, Chicago; as the Rector of St. Philip’s Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York; as the Rector of St. Philip’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, and as the part time Vicar of rural Calvary Church, Hanover, Virginia.
He is a Life Member of both Kappa Alpha Psi and the Guild of All Souls, and was Life Professed in the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis in 1982.
The men’s addiction recovery program that he designed and led while serving as a Deputy Sheriff and Chief of Chaplains at the Richmond Sheriff’s Office was determined by Virginia Commonwealth University to have saved society eight million dollars over a four year period because it significantly reduced recidivism.
Alonzo sometimes combined his vacation and continuing education time to serve impoverished congregations on the island nation of Dominica and in the United States Virgin Islands.
He was once the Dean of the Chicago South and the Central Brooklyn Deaneries, and also served as the Interim Staff Officer for Black Ministries in Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning’s administration. An honorably discharged and decorated veteran of the United States Army Reserve, he received an appointment from President George H. W. Bush to serve as an Army Chaplain (First Lieutenant). He was judged to be in the top three percent of chaplains of his rank at the time of his last evaluation.
Alonzo has served on various national church boards and commissions, including the Episcopal Commission for Black Ministries, the Coalition for Human Need, and the Task Force for the Recruitment, Training, and Deployment of Minority Clergy.
A Life Member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, he is a past president of the Chicago Chapter, and a founding member of the
Mac Donough Street Chapter in Brooklyn. Within the dioceses he has served, Alonzo has been a member of the Standing Committee, the Budget Committee, the Urban Strategy Commission, the Board of Directors of Episcopal Health Services, and the AIDS Pastoral Care Network. He is a former chaplain of the Chicago Chapter of Integrity, the Episcopal Church organization for Gays and Lesbians, served with the AIDS Pastoral Care Network, and is currently a member of the Diocese of Chicago Commission on Ministry.
He is a Canon of St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Diocese of Kigezi, the Church of Uganda, and has been a consultant to the General Theological Seminary, the Nashotah House Seminary, and once taught at Long Island’s Mercer School of Theology.
He has served as a Field Education Supervisor for Seabury-Western, and for the Schools of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Chicago, and was a chaplain for the Senate of Virginia.
Awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by St. Paul’s College, Lawrenceville, Virginia, Alonzo earned a Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation at Notre Dame. He has been included in Who’s Who in Black America, Who’s Who Among Human Service Professionals, and is the recipient of numerous awards and tributes, including proclamations from the Brooklyn Borough President, the New York City Council, the New York General Assembly, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Senate, the Richmond City Council, and the Congressional Record of the United States.
Upon his retirement from full time ministry in 2016, the chapel in the then new Richmond City Justice Center was named in his honor. Since returning to Chicago, he has served a number of churches as sabbatical assistant, priest associate, and priest in charge. The father of two Sons and two Granddaughters, Alonzo enjoys reading, travel, and Shotokan Karate.
A graduate of Roosevelt University, having majored in Public Administration, Alonzo also earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to being ordained, he was a Specialist in Community Organization for the Chicago Urban League, a Program Coordinator for Lake Bluff / Chicago Homes for Children, and a Group Home Director for Mary Bartelme Homes. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and was the recipient of the Field Prize for Homiletics, and the Cotton Memorial Award for Oral Reading of the Holy Scriptures.
Ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Quintin E. Primo, Jr., and to the priesthood by Bishop James W. Montgomery, Father Pruitt has served as the Vicar of St. George and St. Matthias Church, Chicago; as the Rector of St. Philip’s Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York; as the Rector of St. Philip’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, and as the part time Vicar of rural Calvary Church, Hanover, Virginia.
He is a Life Member of both Kappa Alpha Psi and the Guild of All Souls, and was Life Professed in the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis in 1982.
The men’s addiction recovery program that he designed and led while serving as a Deputy Sheriff and Chief of Chaplains at the Richmond Sheriff’s Office was determined by Virginia Commonwealth University to have saved society eight million dollars over a four year period because it significantly reduced recidivism.
Alonzo sometimes combined his vacation and continuing education time to serve impoverished congregations on the island nation of Dominica and in the United States Virgin Islands.
He was once the Dean of the Chicago South and the Central Brooklyn Deaneries, and also served as the Interim Staff Officer for Black Ministries in Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning’s administration. An honorably discharged and decorated veteran of the United States Army Reserve, he received an appointment from President George H. W. Bush to serve as an Army Chaplain (First Lieutenant). He was judged to be in the top three percent of chaplains of his rank at the time of his last evaluation.
Alonzo has served on various national church boards and commissions, including the Episcopal Commission for Black Ministries, the Coalition for Human Need, and the Task Force for the Recruitment, Training, and Deployment of Minority Clergy.
A Life Member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, he is a past president of the Chicago Chapter, and a founding member of the
Mac Donough Street Chapter in Brooklyn. Within the dioceses he has served, Alonzo has been a member of the Standing Committee, the Budget Committee, the Urban Strategy Commission, the Board of Directors of Episcopal Health Services, and the AIDS Pastoral Care Network. He is a former chaplain of the Chicago Chapter of Integrity, the Episcopal Church organization for Gays and Lesbians, served with the AIDS Pastoral Care Network, and is currently a member of the Diocese of Chicago Commission on Ministry.
He is a Canon of St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Diocese of Kigezi, the Church of Uganda, and has been a consultant to the General Theological Seminary, the Nashotah House Seminary, and once taught at Long Island’s Mercer School of Theology.
He has served as a Field Education Supervisor for Seabury-Western, and for the Schools of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Chicago, and was a chaplain for the Senate of Virginia.
Awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by St. Paul’s College, Lawrenceville, Virginia, Alonzo earned a Doctor of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation at Notre Dame. He has been included in Who’s Who in Black America, Who’s Who Among Human Service Professionals, and is the recipient of numerous awards and tributes, including proclamations from the Brooklyn Borough President, the New York City Council, the New York General Assembly, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Senate, the Richmond City Council, and the Congressional Record of the United States.
Upon his retirement from full time ministry in 2016, the chapel in the then new Richmond City Justice Center was named in his honor. Since returning to Chicago, he has served a number of churches as sabbatical assistant, priest associate, and priest in charge. The father of two Sons and two Granddaughters, Alonzo enjoys reading, travel, and Shotokan Karate.
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