The Rev Calvin O Butts III, who fought poverty and racism and skillfully navigated New York’s power structure as pastor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist church, died on Friday at age 73, the church announced.
“The Butts family and entire Abyssinian Baptist church membership solicit your prayers for us in our bereavement,” the church said on its website. No cause of death was given.
Butts began serving as a youth minister at Abyssinian in 1972 and was senior pastor there for more than 30 years. He also served as president of the State University of New York at Old Westbury, on Long Island, from 1999 to 2020.