Grant F. Anderson Citation for Meritorious Ministry
2013 Honoree of the Queens Federation of Churches

The Reverend Jeffrey Williams

Rev. Jeffrey C. Williams, Sr. is a native New Yorker with Southern roots. He is a graduate of Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Queens. In 1989 he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from Bernard M. Baruch College majoring in Accounting / Finance. He worked as a Business Manager in the television news and entertainment industry for 13 years. In 1999 he switched gears when he became the full time Administrator for one of the largest not for profit community outreach organizations in Queens, NY. It was during his tenure here that he accepted the call to ministry and subsequent ordination (2000).

Following the disaster of September 11, 2001, Rev. Williams sought to enhance his ministerial training, focusing on the Chaplaincy. He has completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) through the Health Care Chaplaincy of New York as an intern at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY.

In 2005 Rev. Williams was endorsed by the New York State Council of Churches, which led to his appointment as Protestant Chaplain at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center (CPC) in Queens Village, NY. In 2006, he went on to earn a degree from the Tabernacle Bible College in Norfolk, VA specializing in Religious Education.

Rev. Williams is a trained Disaster Mental Health Chaplain, an active member of the NYS Association of Protestant Chaplains, as well as a member of the Ethics Committee at Creedmoor PC. For the past 7 years Rev. Williams has provided 3 weekly worship services to both the inpatient and outpatient population at Faith Chapel on the Creedmoor grounds. Rev. Williams has been instrumental in overseeing over 70 community based volunteers who assist in religious activities. He has provided spiritual counseling and weekly Bible study for both patients and staff members. In addition to his duties at Creedmoor, Rev. Williams has been a featured lecturer on the role of spirituality in the lives of the mentally ill. In 2012 Rev. Williams was appointed by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office to the position of Regional Affirmative Action Administrator for the NYS Office of Mental Health.
Rev. Williams is a certified Income Tax Return Preparer and a NYS Notary Public. He is currently serving his second term as Treasurer for his local Parent Teacher’s Association (PTA), and has organized a financial literacy program through Capital One Bank for the children of his school district.

Rev. Williams attends the Zion Cathedral Church of God in Christ, in Freeport NY, where he resides with his wife of 21 years Kuwata, and their 3 children Brianna, Jeffrey Jr. and Jalen.