DWIGHT ANDREWS is Pastor of First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Atlanta and Professor of Music Theory and African American Music at Emory University. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in Music Theory from Yale University.
A product of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Detroit, he was ordained in 1978. For the next decade he served as a campus minister at the Black Church at Yale University. He was appointed an Associate Minister at First Congregational Church in YEAR was appointed Pastor in 1999. Committed to a wholistic approach to Christian ministry,
Andrews seeks to nurture the whole person, mind, body, and soul. During his tenure as pastor he helped to shepherd a major restoration of the historic church, acquire and renovate the community center, the Commons, and construct the East Wing, a major new administrative building. As an academic, Andrews has taught at Yale and Harvard Universities as well as Spelman College.
As a scholar/artist he has served as a consultant to two award-winning Henry Louis documentaries, the Black ChurchThis is My Story, This is My Song and Gospel! He is the 2024 recipient of the Composers Now Visionary Award and the 2023 Governor’s Award in the Arts and Humanities in Georgia. A multi-instrumentalist,
Andrews has appeared on over twenty-five jazz and ‘new music’ recordings and been recognized for his collaborations with playwright August Wilson. He served as musical director for the Broadway productions of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, and Seven Guitars.