The Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin, a Chicago native, currently serves as the first Executive Conference Minister of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. As the chief vision keeper, he is responsible for guiding the conference and its affiliates to have a positive and lasting impact in our world. Prior to this role he served the Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota Conferences as an Associate Conference Minister. In that role he offered care and support to the pastors and churches in the Nebraska Conference as well as supported the work of Search & Call across the Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota Conferences. Rev. Darrell was also the Program Director and creator of the Pension Boards’ Faith and Personal Finance Initiative, a project funded by a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment’s National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders. In this role, he administered a five-year program of financial education and wellness for UCC authorized ministers from historically underrepresented groups. Darrell is a member of the United Church of Christ Board, the UCC Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, and the Global Ministries Board. He brings to his varying leadership roles extensive experience in pastoral ministry and higher education. He has served as Pastor and Founder of Liberation United Church of Christ in Seattle, Everett United Church of Christ and Chaplain Intern at VA Puget Sound Health Systems). Before full-time ministry, he served in several positions in Jesuit higher education, including Assistant Director of Student Life for Judicial Affairs, Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs, Acting Director of Multicultural Affairs, Assistant Dean of Students, Associate Dean of Students, and Dean of Students.  

In his 20 years of ministerial experience, the Rev. Goodwin has also served as Assistant Vice President of the Youth Department at Chicago’s Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ;  Youth Pastor and Staff Minister of Mason Cathedral Church of God in Christ in Dorchester, Massachusetts;  Pastoral Intern at St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Pastor and Founder of ALANA (African, Latin, Asian, and Native American) Campus Ministry at the University of Vermont, and Staff Minister at Second Advent Christian Church in Omaha.  

The Rev. Goodwin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Theology from Boston College; a Master of Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from The University of Vermont; a Master of Arts in Transforming Spirituality from Seattle University; and is currently a doctoral candidate in San Francisco Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program where his dissertation topic is, " Praying Through: Using group spiritual direction as a strategy for the retention of African American men in predominately white seminaries in the United Church of Christ (UCC). In his spare time, he is an avid dinner party host, an amateur bartender, and is committed to bridge building.