REV.PETER LAARMAN

Rev. Peter Laarman has been serving as Judson Memorial Church’s sixth minister since 1994, when he completed the Master of Divinity program at Yale Divinity School and was ordained by the United Church of Christ.

Judson Memorial Church, a Protestant church built in 1890 by the distinguished preacher and church leader Edward Judson as a memorial to his father Adoniram Judson, the first American foreign missionary, was envisioned to work as an institution serving the burgeoning immigrant population of Lower Manhattan through health, nutrition, education, and recreational programs. Over the years, Judson has developed a national presence, first by offering distinctive healthcare and reaching out to ministries, and later by opening its doors to experimental, avant-garde artists from many genres — dance, painting, theatre — and its own ministers organizing around issues of civil rights, free expression, abortion rights, and the decriminalization of prostitution.

Before deciding to train for the ministry at the age of 43, Rev. Laarman graduated summa cum laude from Brown University in 1970 with a degree in English and American literature. Radicalized through involvement in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, Mr. Laarman abandoned his plan to teach college-level English and decided to work instead as a grassroots community organizer in Brockton, Massachusetts. Later, he enjoyed a successful career as a strategist and communications specialist with leading U.S. trade unions and other progressive organizations.

An openly gay man, Mr. Laarman is strongly committed to maintaining Judson’s strong commitment to freedom of expression and its advocacy for stigmatized groups, including sexual minorities and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Rev. Laarman’s 1997 citywide "Workfare Campaign of Resistance," designed to oppose Mayor Giuliani’s workfare program by enlisting over 250 faith-based and other non-profit organizations around a pledge to refuse to participate in the program, was highlighted on the front page of The New York Times and on ABC’s 20/20 news program.

Mr. Laarman serves on the boards of the People of Faith Network, New York Jobs with Justice, the Religion-Labor Coalition of Greater New York, The Employment Project, and A Partnership of Faith in New York City, among others. Mr. Laarman is a co-founder of the Progressive Religious Partnership, an interfaith effort to revive a prophetic religious voice in national affairs as well as to create strong networks of progressive religious leaders in selected cites.

In addition to developing new and creative programs to expose and reverse the growing wealth gap in American society and the social, spiritual and psychological consequences of the pervasive corporatization of values and behaviors, Peter Laarman nurtures a keen interest in American history and literature of the 19^th century.

Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212.477.0351
Fax: 212.995.0844

info@judson.org
plaarman@judson.org