Rev. Mr. Paul E. Richardson

1418 Glen View Road

Yellow Springs, OH 45387

 stpauldeacon@woh.rr.com

      Deacon Paul Richardson was ordained as a Roman Catholic deacon in September 1976 with the first class in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and is their first Black Catholic deacon.  He is currently assigned as parish deacon at St. Paul Church, Yellow Springs, OH; and, at St. Charles Borremeo Church, South Charleston, OH. 

      He is the chairman of the Board and founding member of the Ministers of Service, Inc., a non-profit corporation founded in 1979 to conduct leadership training for inner-city parishes in Cincinnati and Dayton.  He is currently Secretary of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus; Secretary, Pan African Roman Catholic Clergy Caucus; Chair, and Board of Directors; Interfaith Campus Ministry program, Central State University.  Paul is also is the President of the Yellow Springs Christian Association (an ecumenical group of Christian leaders in the Yellow Springs area).  He has been the Program Coordinator and moderator of their Lenten Discussion series for the past several years.

      In July 2005, Paul received the Fr. Joseph Davis lifetime achievement award from the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus for his leadership and dedication to ministry.

      In the past Paul has been President of the National Association of African American Catholic Deacons for 7 years, Convenor of the National Catholic Deacon Organization Presidents, Secretary of the Yellow Springs Men’s Group, Inc.; and, Secretary and President of the Board of Trustees, Yellow Springs Senior Citizens, Inc.  Additionally, he has served as a mentor for men in formation for the Archdiocesan Diaconate formation program, and the Lay Pastoral Ministry Program.

      Parish duties include preaching, spiritual direction, member of the RCIA team, serve on the Pastoral Council; perform baptisms, weddings, funerals and wake services.

      Paul has conducted retreats, days of recollection for lectors and extraordinary distributors of communion, seminars for the Diaconate community and lay groups, preached during special occasions for National conferences, and conducted bible study sessions.  He taught classes in Vatican II, Church history, and Scripture for the Ministers of Service Program.

      Paul and his wife Juanita have been married for over 49 years, and have two daughters and two grandsons.