Rev. James E. Goode, OFM, Ph.D.

In May 1972 in New York City, James Goode became the first African American ordained a priest from Roanoke, VA. His degrees include M.Div. and M.Th. degrees from St. Anthony’s Theological Seminary, an MA in Psychology from the College of St. Rose, and a Ph.D in Psychology from Union Graduate School.  Goode is a proud member of the Family of Franciscan Friars–Province of the Immaculate Conception.

Goode is the Pastoral Director of Solid Ground Franciscan Ministry, an evangelization ministry with African American Families.  He is also founder and president of the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life. Goode has preached over 300 revivals and convocations, including the first Black Catholic Revival in America (1974).  In 1989, he inaugurated the National Day of Prayer for the African American Family, which is celebrated the first Sunday of Black History Month.

Nationally, Goode has served as president of NBCCC, on the board of the National Back Catholic Congress, and on the Board of Consultants for the USCCB — Secretariat for African American Catholics.  Goode has pastored Black Catholic communities in Brooklyn (Our Lady of Charity) and San Francisco (St. Paul of the Shipwreck) and held leadership roles for Diocesan Offices of Black Catholics or their equivalent in Brooklyn, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.  

Goode has a dedicated record of activism, from holding a Black Catholic prayer march for jobs in front of the White House to the 1st Annual AIDS Summit for Black Catholics held in Brooklyn, as well as fair housing and drug abuse intervention activities too numerous to list here; but, which altogether have earned him two Congressional Record Citations and the NBCCC Brother Joseph Davis Lifetime Achievement Award (1996 and 2002).