Dr. Kevin Cosby with one of his students. (Twitter/KWCosby)
Dr. Kevin Cosby of Louisville is a Protestant minister scheduled to speak at Muhammad Ali’s funeral today. Who is he and why was he important to Ali? Cosby has grown a powerful church from practically the ground up and has a unique history with Ali.
Here’s what you need to know.
Cosby Is Pastor of St. Stephen Church, One of the Largest Churches in America
According to his bio on the St. Stephen Church website, Cosby is married to Barnetta Turner and they have two adult children. He’s also the senior pastor of St. Stephen Church in Louisville. While serving as pastor, the church grew from 500 to 14,000 members and has been named one of the 100 largest churches in America and one of the six “super churches” of the South.
Cosby is a graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He recently led his church to partner with other suburban churches in working to increase economic opportunities to African Americans in West Louisville.
Cosby Is President of Simmons College and Is Devoted to His Work There
Cosby is also the president of Simmons College of Kentucky, according to Baptist News. You can see a photo of him below, from his Twitter page, with the Simmons College mascot:
Simmons College Panther. Panther pride. #107 #HBCU http://t.co/eu6Ng4QKyb
Cosby often posts on his Twitter account, exhorting people in their daily walk and sharing the successes of people in his church and college. He’s also not afraid to talk about controversial topics and stand up for what he believes is moral and right.
In addition, during his 10 years as president of Simmons, he refused more than $700,000 in salary, but put that money back into the college.
Cosby Preached the Eulogy at Muhammad Ali’s Mother’s Funeral
Cosby has said that one of the greatest honors of his life was when Muhammad Ali asked him to preach the eulogy at his mother Odessa’s funeral:
When I eulogized Ali’s mother, I said Odessa his mother was the root and Ali was the fruit. He stood up on his feet! It was a great honor!
He added that Ali’s wife, Lonnie, is the epitome of a Proverbs 31 woman.
You can watch a video of Cosby discussing Muhammad Ali at the link here.
To learn more about Muhammad Ali, please see: