John M. Perkins, one of the leading evangelical voices to emerge from the American civil rights movement and co-founder of Seattle Pacific University’s John Perkins Center, died on March 13, 2026, at age 95.
Perkins was an internationally known author, speaker, and teacher on issues of racial reconciliation, Christian leadership, and community development. Over the course of his life, he helped shape a movement rooted in the belief that the church has a central role to play in justice, reconciliation, and neighborhood transformation.
The son of a sharecropper, Perkins was born into deep poverty in Mississippi. At age 17, he fled to California after his older brother was murdered by a town marshal. Although he vowed never to return, after accepting Christ in 1957 he felt called back to Mississippi in 1960 to share the gospel with those still living there.
His outspoken leadership in civil rights demonstrations and voter registration efforts led to repeated harassment, imprisonment, and beatings. These experiences shaped his lifelong commitment to racial reconciliation and Christian community development.
Despite leaving school in the third grade, Perkins became an influential teacher and author. Over his lifetime he wrote or co-authored more than a dozen books, including Let Justice Roll Down (1976), Beyond Charity, One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race (2018), and Count It All Joy: The Ridiculous Paradox of Suffering (2021). He received honorary doctorates from Wheaton College, Gordon College, Huntington College, Geneva College, Spring Arbor University, North Park College, and Belhaven College.
In 1989, Perkins co-founded the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a national network of churches and organizations committed to working in under-resourced communities through the principles of relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution. The organization continues to support ministries serving neighborhoods across the country.
Perkins also served on the boards of numerous organizations, including World Vision, Prison Fellowship, the National Association of Evangelicals, Spring Arbor University, and many others.
In 2004, Perkins partnered with Seattle Pacific University to launch the John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development. The center — the first partnership of its kind between Perkins and a university — was something he described as “the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.”
In 2006, he was named distinguished visiting professor at Seattle Pacific University.
Perkins and his wife, Vera Mae Perkins, also founded the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2016, their daughters Elizabeth Perkins and Priscilla Perkins were appointed co-presidents of the foundation, while Dr. Perkins served as president emeritus until his death.