Ramone Raschad Billingsley

Rev. Ramone Raschad Billingsley, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, is a Canadian-trained biblical scholar, a Baptist minister, a lecturer, a writer, a doctoral student, and a classically-trained organist. Rev. Ramone was called to preach in the eighth grade. However, he did not publicly acknowledge his call until his early adult years. In February 2000, he preached his first sermon at Ark Family Ministries (a split from Second Baptist Church in Lorain, Ohio) and was licensed as a Baptist preacher. In November 2000, he was ordained. Shortly after preaching his first sermon, he began his journey into the world of theological education.

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Ramone began his undergraduate education at Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Oberlin, Ohio) in the Bachelor of Music program in Organ Performance & Literature. Sensing a call to preach, he transferred to Temple Bible College & Seminary at the end of his third year.  Ramone holds a Bachelor’s and Master of Divinity degree from Temple Bible College & Seminary (Cleveland, Ohio, no longer extant). Also, he holds a Master of Arts degree in Hebrew Bible with extensive coursework in Northwest Semitic Languages. While a student at Ashland, he received the prestigious Departmental award for Biblical studies in 2007 and was also inducted into the Eta Beta Rho chapter of the National Hebrew Honor Society. 

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In 2013, he received a doctoral entrance scholarship, where he began studying for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Hebrew Bible & Semitic Languages at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto under his doctoral advisor, Prof. J. Glen Taylor. Ramone completed all coursework, and his comprehensive exams were in the following areas: Northwest Semitic Philology, the Book of the Twelve Prophets, the Deuteronomistic History, and Postcolonial, Diaspora, and Transnational Studies.  Currently, he is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Black Preaching & Social Change at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University (Richmond, VA).

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He has extensive experience in congregational care, church administration, preaching, and civic engagement. An emphasis on the Black church, Black liberation theology, and social justice is at the heart of Rev. Ramone's preaching and church ministry ethos. He works within the intersection of faith and social justice. Rev. Ramone possesses a progressive theology of "radical inclusion" and embraces people who have been mistreated and marginalized in the church and society.

Rev. Ramone is a well-respected preacher and lecturer among his peers and students. He has served as an adjunct instructor in Biblical studies at Ashland Theological Seminary (Ashland, Ohio) and as a guest lecturer at Wycliffe College. 

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 Rev. Ramone serves as the founding and lead pastor for Oasis of Hope Church Bham (Birmingham, Alabama). He is a founding member and general secretary of the Cutting-Edge Clergy Caucus, LLC (Birmingham, Alabama), a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians, the American Association of Notaries, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the Catholic Biblical Association. Also, he is an active member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Mu Psi Lambda Chapter), where he serves as Parliamentarian. 

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