Raymond B. Kemp

Father Raymond B. Kemp, S.T.L. (born 1941), is a community organizer, Catholic priest, and professor at Georgetown University. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center.
Biography
Ray Kemp was born in Washington, DC to parents of distinct backgrounds. Kemp’s father was from rural Virginia, in proximity to Front Royal, while his mother grew up in the Howard University neighborhood of Washington, DC. Like his mother, he spent his childhood in what is generally referred to as the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, DC. Kemp attended Gonzaga College High School, a Jesuit-affiliated college preparatory school, also located in Washington. After graduation, he went on to St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, the oldest Catholic seminary in the United States. While at seminary, Kemp met a number of social activists, most notably Martin Luther King, Jr., Saul Alinsky, and the Berrigan brothers. Alongside Philip Berrigan, SJ, he worked with Baltimore residents to organize against absentee landlords. After his ordination 1967, Kemp followed Monsignor Geno Baroni back to Washington and began campaigning to improve the lives of the city’s homeless. As a priest at St. Augustine Parish, located just one block above U Street NW in Washington, he began to experience 1960’s social activism firsthand. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, riots broke out surrounding Kemp’s church. During this period, Kemp was teargassed between ten to twelve times and rumors circulated that he had been killed or stabbed.
In 1971, Kemp sought election to the District of Columbia School Board. He served on the Board for 4 years while continuing his role as a pastor in the city. Kemp served as pastor at St. Augustine from 1974 to 1981 and at Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Parish from 1986 to 1992.
In 1992, Kemp left Holy Comforter to come work at Georgetown University, where he works currently as a professor within the theology department and a Senior Research Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center. Within the center, he is known for his role as the director of Preaching the Just Word, “a national program sponsored by the Woodstock Theological Center to assist priests and other ministers of the gospel to be more effective in preaching biblical and social justice.”
Influences
Kemp’s father was one of the first people to have a profound effect on his perception of the world. The elder Kemp was a staunch segregationist and forbid his children from swimming at the District’s public pools after they were integrated. This mentality, contrasted with his mother’s more progressive mindset, pushed Kemp to inquisitively question the social circumstances of his childhood environment.
This would be of significant importance during his time spent at Gonzaga College High School. At the time, an all-white school in a majority African American neighborhood, there was an interesting social dynamic. Kemp recounts an overwhelming portion of students did not perceive this, yet faculty pushed himself and others to understand the meaning of such a setting.
The effects of this impact helped influence his decision to attend St. Mary’s Seminary and the group of students he associated with while there. One of his closest friends in Baltimore was peace activist, Philip Berrigan. The influence of Berrigan’s ability to protest social problems was also augmented by Kemp’s attendance of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, when he was a senior at seminary. He was profoundly struck by Martin Luther King and others use of the Bible to motivate people toward social change. While at the march, he was also exposed to Saul Alinsky, one of the founders of the modern community organizing movement in America. Kemp would later meet Alinsky and have him come to speak at his fellow students in Baltimore.
Kemp was also deeply affected during this time by the thoughts and writing of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn and the Young Christian Workers movement. The motto of the movement, “See, Judge, Act,” became a prominent principle within Kemp’s life. He believed in Cardijn’s principles and those who lived them fully, such as Monsignor Jack Egan. Egan inspired by Kemp with his dedication to social justice and ability to organize in the spirit of Cardijn.
Many other organizers who were also active during the period had an effect on Kemp as well. The principles of people such as Andrew Young helped enthuse Kemp about issues within the Civil Rights Movement. Returning to Washington, Monsignor Geno Baroni and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development pushed Kemp to consider the power of his role as a priest in an urban parish.
Published works
*A Journey in Faith: An Experience of the Catechumenate
Kemp has also published articles in Worship, The Catechumenate, Church, Liturgy 90, and the National Catholic Reporter.

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