The Reverend Dr. Mwalimu Imara—UU parish minister and Episcopal priest, distinguished academic, pastoral counselor and hospice chaplain, teacher, mentor, and activist for racial justice—died on 6 October 2015, aged 85.

Mwalimu Imara was born Renford G. Gaines on 21 April 1930 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the only child of Blanche Irene Allen and Cyril Gomez. Moving to Montréal with his family at the age of 5, he was raised in the Episcopal Church, served as an acolyte for many years. and developed a close and formative relationship with church elders who were instrumental in guiding his faith and infusing him with a deep and personal spirituality. After graduation at the top of his class from the High School of Montréal in 1947. Mr. Gaines worked in the printing industry for six years before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1953, where he met his spiritual soulmate, Saburi, whom he married in 1960. With her support he was able to pursue his education full-time. He earned a B.A. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1964 and, despite his Anglican background, chose Meadville Lombard Theological School for further study, taking a D.Min. there in 1968.

While in seminary, Mr. Gaines worked closely with Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, eventually publishing widely in the area of death, dying, and bereavement, as well as lecturing and leading workshops on health and religion, meditation, bereavement, counseling the seriously ill, and exploring the spiritual foundations of counseling, and working in these fields with the University of Illinois, Department of Psychology, Brandeis University Psychological Counseling Center, and the (Kübler) Ross Medical Associates.

“Rennie” was one of four black seminarians to attend an emergency conference called by the Rev. Homer Jack in 1967 in response to widespread racial riots and protests. This pivotal gathering led to his continued activity in the UUA’s ensuing Black Empowerment Controversy. He was a member of the Black Affairs Council and the Greater Boston Black UU Caucus.

Mr. Gaines was ordained in 1968 by the UU Church of Urbana, Illinois, where he served for two years as senior minister before accepting a call in 1970 as senior minister of Boston’s Arlington Street Church. It was during his turbulent and controversial four-year ministry there that he and his wife moved more strongly to reclaim their African heritage and he adopted the name Mwalimu Imara. In 1974, he began to shift his working focus to community ministry and was voted Minister-at-Large to the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches (now the UU Urban Ministries). That same year he founded the Boston Center for Religion & Psychotherapy, serving as its Executive Director until 1979. In recognition of that work, he was named a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors in 1975. Dr. Imara moved on to create a hospice program at the Methodist Hospital of Indiana in 1979, where he served as director, program developer, trainer, and pastoral counselor until 1982. During these years he was drawn back to his Anglican roots and was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in the Indianapolis Diocese.

The Rev. Dr. Imara’s academic career was extensive. From 1978 to 2009 he served on the faculty of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, conducting post-graduate training programs, teaching organizational methods, and leading workshops on grief and loss. From 1983 to 1988 he chaired the Department of Counseling Services and directed the program in Human Values in Medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta with joint professorial appointments in the Human Behavior in the Department of Psychiatry and the Family Medicine Department, including service as institutional chaplain. He continued service in the Episcopal priesthood during his academic career, serving as Priest-in-Charge at St. Stephens’ Episcopal Church in Griffin, Georgia, from 1984 to 1991.

Of the motivation for his life’s work, Dr. Imara, wrote:

“My interest in ‘spiritual intelligence’ is directly connected to my efforts to communicate my transcendent experiences, especially those experiences connected to my working with terminally-ill persons and their families.”

Mwalimu Imara was instrumental in adopting the principles of Maulana (Ron) Karenga’s Nguzo Saba, the seven principles of Kwanzaa. He was a revolutionary leader in the Kazana extended family of Philadelphia, and led his family and community in special celebrations for birthdays, Kwanzaa, births, and deaths.

His daughter Sala Hilaire calls her father “the greatest man I ever met. He was able to meet people where they were at. He was able to sit down with someone and make them feel like they were the most important person in the world.”

Mwalimu Imara is survived by his wife, Saburi, children Sala Hilaire, Hiari Imara, and Akosua Davis, grandchildren Kidist Getnet, Aminah Hilaire, Nzinga Davis, Emeka Davis, Ashe Davis, Amirah Jabbie, and Kabiyesi Davis, nephews Michael Van Smith and Marcus Smith, sister-in-law, Nia Latimore, cousins Bobbie and Charles Pearson, and countless friends and loved ones.

A Celebration of the Rev. Dr. Imara’s life was held on 13 October 2015 at Atlanta’s Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip.

Memorial donations are encouraged to the Imara Center’s Mwalimu IPD Mentorship Program. The Imara Center LLC is a behavioral health agency that provides quality behavioral health services and utilizes a trauma informed approach to empower individuals and their communities. The Mwalimu Imara IPD program provides mentorship to youths in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The program was created in 2015 as a tribute to Dr. Imara. Please make checks payable to the Imara Center, with “Mwalimu IPD Mentorship Program” in the memo line, and mail checks to The Imara Center, LLC, 3915 Cascade Road, SW, Suite 205, Atlanta, GA 30331.

Condolences may be sent to Saburi Imara, 4550 Orkney Lane SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30331.

Category: Obituary: I

The Rev. John Branch Isom

The Rev. Dr. Mwalimu Imara