President of Allegheny East Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Dr. Trevor Kinlock was raised in Los Angeles, California where he accepted the Lord at an early age and was baptized into the gospel of Jesus Christ. Upon receiving God’s call to enter the ministry, he enrolled at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama where he earned his B.A. in Ministerial Theology. He continued his ministerial training at Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan where he earned his Master’s of Divinity degree.
Dr. Kinlock has pastored for twenty-five years and in this time served the Praise Fellowship SDA Church in South Bend, IN, the Emmanuel SDA church in Brinklow, MD, the Calvary SDA church in Newport News, VA, the Metropolitan SDA church in Hyattsville, MD, and on June 23, 2024, was elected to serve as President of the Allegheny East Conference. As pastor, he led his churches in worship, evangelism & church growth, community empowerment, youth & young adult ministry, Christian education, and global mission.
He has served in many administrative roles as a member of the Allegheny East Conference’s (AEC) executive committee, conference area leader committee, conference finance committee, PK-12 board, conference ordination committee, and the 2012 & 2022 AEC nominating committees. While in Virginia, he served as the state area leader for all the pastors and churches in the Virginia area.
Dr. Kinlock is also a trained sociologist having completed his PhD in Sociology and Criminology at Howard University. His specializations are in the area of race analysis, urban studies, and social inequality. His research was a sociology of education study that looked at the intersection of race, class, and education in urban communities. Specifically, he researched how Black faith-based communities pursue racial equity in education and mitigate opportunity gaps through collective actions of liberation and resistance. His dissertation is entitled, “Raising Black Excellence: An Exploration of How a Black Operated Seventh-day Adventist school Empowers Black Student Achievement and Development through Liberation and Resistance”. In this study, Dr. Kinlock utilizes a critical pedagogy theoretical framework to understand how Black faith communities resist educational racism, inequality, and marginalization to create heightened outcomes and opportunities for their Black children. Findings highlight liberatory pedagogies and practices that are critical for Black student success in urban education. Dr. Kinlock currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Howard University where he enjoys raising students’ liberatory consciousness and preparing them for futures of collective advancement and social action.
He is happily married to the former Carleen H. Wallington, to whom he has been married for over 19 blessed years. Carleen is a 25-year career early childhood educator and administrator and currently works as center director at a local DC university. They have two beautiful daughters, Cayla Rose and Ava Janell. Cayla and Ava are their daddy’s pride and joy and are stellar students at George E. Peters SDA School.
Dr. Kinlock’s many years of urban ministry have led him to partner with several national and community justice organizations that work to build the power and agency of Black and Brown communities. As a prophetic leader, he is committed to the liberation and empowerment of all people spiritually, socially, economically, and politically from the systems and structures that dehumanize humanity. He believes that this is the essence of Christian ministry, exemplified by the Chief Liberator Himself, Jesus Christ, who declared “whom the Son sets free he shall be free indeed”.