Our Pastor & Leading Lady

        Dr. Donald L. Perryman, a Toledo Ohio native, attended Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio and subsequently earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary, Dayton Ohio in December, 2007 with a theological focus in Social Justice Ministry and Political Activism. The dissertation resulting from this work is Stories of Hope: Educating for Activism and Justice in the Black Church. Dr. Perryman received both the Bachelor (B.B.A.) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees from the University of Toledo, majoring in Corporate Finance. He has served in a commercial lending capacity for the Banking Industry and as consultant/examiner for the Credit Union division of the Ohio Department of Commerce.

      Dr. Perryman is currently a graduate student in the Antioch University Ph.D. in Leadership & Change Program in Yellow Springs, Ohio and serves the community as President and Founder of United Pastors for Social Empowerment, an ecumenical group of Christian pastors working in collaboration with community leaders and institutions to challenge the crises and disparities affecting the poor, marginalized and communities of color through public policy, community development and political empowerment.

      He is also a member of the Neighborhood Health Association, the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County, The University of Toledo Urban Affairs Center Community Advisory Board, City of Toledo Better Board of Community Relations, The University of Toledo MBE/EDGE Committee, Fatherhood Collaborative, West Central CDC Alliance, Economic Opportunity Planning Association board, Reentry Coalition of Northwestern Ohio, The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference for Social Justice, and The Children’s Defense Fund.

       In 1971, Dr. Perryman was a founder of the original University of Toledo Gospel Choir and served as Minister of Music at Morningstar Missionary Baptist Church in Toledo, from 1971 to 1997. Dr. Perryman received his call to the Ministry in December, 1988, where he was licensed and ordained under the leadership of the late Reverend Cornelius Byers.

       On October 12, 1997, with the guidance and assistance of Rev. Dr. John E. Roberts and Rev. Dr. Willie L. Perryman, the Center of Hope Community Baptist Church, Toledo Ohio  was founded and organized with eleven individuals under Pastor D. L. Perryman with the philosophy that God requires not only individuals, but also governments and communities to operate closely to what we understand to be the ways of God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ. As a result, Dr. Perryman’s objective has been to bring the light of the gospel to bear upon the issue of diversity, liberation, inclusiveness, empowerment, and social justice. Center of Hope moved into its present sanctuary located at 1656 Dorr Street on April 21, 1999.

       Through Dr. Perryman’s vision, he has developed these ministries which have been designed to reach out to the members of our community:                                                   

• The Center of Hope Freedom School for educational enrichment and cultural awareness
• The Center of Hope Agape Ministry
• The Rev. L. F. Perryman Scholars of Hope Ministry and Scholarship Fund
• The Center of Hope Daughters of Imani Youth Ministry
• The Center of Hope Young Lions Youth Ministry
• Dress to Impress Clothing Distribution Ministry
• Ben F. Cosper Media and Technology Ministry
• The Center of Hope Women of Worth Ministry
• The Center of Hope Bodacious Women Ministry
• The Center of Hope Men of Distinction
• The Hands of Hope Food Ministry

               Dr. Perryman is greatly blessed by having at his side, the lovely and elegant Sis. Willetta Marie Perryman who supports, strengthens, and backs his ministry. Our Leading Lady is a very talented and artistic visionary in her own right. She has been endowed from “On High” with a unique gift for design, creation, and arrangement along with a rare eye for color. She also possesses a refined gracefulness, an understated dignity, and the uncanny ability to exhibit flair without being flashy, in both her person as well as her work. She exercises her creative gifts as the manager and creative designer for The Preacher's Wife Hat Shop and Boutique, an establishment specializing in fine, designer millinery, hand bags, and accessories.

        Leading Lady Perryman is gentle, yet firm. She is insightful because she takes God's Word seriously. Children and young people are especially attracted to her because she recognizes that they not only have to be trained, but they also have to be nurtured. Pastor and Sis. Perryman are blessed with one son, Marlon and two daughters, Tracee Perryman and Dr. Staci Perryman-Clark.