Rev. Manuel B. Williams, C.R., CFRE, M.Div., Th.M., has served as Director of Resurrection Catholic Missions of the South, Inc. and Pastor of Resurrection Catholic Church in Montgomery, Alabama since July of 1990. Born in Aliceville, Alabama and raised in Montgomery, Father Williams is a 1971 alum of Resurrection Catholic School and is a graduate of St. Jude Educational Institute High School (1975), the University of Notre Dame (B.A. 1979), Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis (M.Div. 1987), the National Institute for Planned Giving, the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (1993), and Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA (Th.M. 2015).

 

Father Williams professed first vows on May 30, 1982 and was ordained on May 23, 1987 as a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection. He served for thirteen years as a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection Provincial Council (Leadership Team). Prior to returning to Montgomery, Father Williams, served as Director of Student Activities and religion instructor at Gordon Technical High School (now DePaul
Academy) in Chicago, Illinois.

 

Father Williams has also served on the boards of several national and local organizations including Catholic Social Services, Montgomery Advocacy and Outreach (formerly Montgomery AIDS Outreach), the United Way, South Central Alabama Girl Scout Council, the State of Alabama Minority Health Advisory Council, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC) and Gordon Technical High School in Chicago. He was appointed by Alabama’s former Governor Don Siegelman to serve as a member of the State of Alabama Child Death Review Team and the Advisory Panel to the Governor’s Early Learning Commission.

Given his extensive background in development, Father Williams was also the co-chair for the 2003 National Catholic Development Conference held in Los Angeles, California and served as the NCDC Chairman of the Board in 2017 and 2018. In 2010, he participated in a Symposium on Vocations to the Catholic Priesthood in the African American Community sponsored by the University of Notre Dame. Father Williams currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Support Our Aging Religious, (SOAR) in Silver Springs, MD, and as a board member of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) in Montgomery .He also serves on the clergy board and leadership team of Faith In Action Alabama, the board of directors for Alabama Appleseed and as Alabama District Chaplain for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and as Chapter Chaplain for his local Alpha Upsilon Lambda Chapter of the fraternity. Father Williams is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery Class XIII and of Leadership Alabama. Father Williams also preaches revivals and missions throughout the U.S., specializing in African-American Catholic spirituality and history. He is an adjunct instructor at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) at Xavier University New Orleans teaching certificate classes in pastoral leadership and has served as Co-Director for IBCS since 2017. He is a Certified Fundraising Executive who also lectures on fundraising and development.