Manuel Sykes is an American pastor and civic leader from the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

Career

Sykes attended the Luther Rice Seminary & University, graduating in 1983 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree. He then enrolled at

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

, where he graduated with two

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s, one in Divinity and the other in Philosophy. He completed an internship in

clinical pastoral education Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is education to teach spiritual care to clergy and others. CPE is the primary method of training hospital and hospice chaplains and spiritual care providers in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand ...

at the

University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following is a ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Sykes became the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at Bethel Community Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1993. He also serves as the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

at the

Veterans Affairs Medical Center The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the healthcare program of the VA through a national ...

and

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg Bayfront Health St. Petersburg is a 480-bed tertiary care center equipped to provide comprehensive medical and surgical care. The hospital offers many areas of expertise, including surgery and trauma, neuroscience, cardiology, acute rehabilitatio ...

. In 2006, he was chosen to lead the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. He was elected as the President of the St. Petersburg chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

in November 2010. As a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, Sykes declared his intention to run for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

in the 2014 elections, challenging

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

Republican David Jolly in . The

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa– St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistic ...

Democratic Party chairman told him he would be "

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

" if he ran, and Sykes dropped out. Sykes is considering another campaign for 2016.

Personal

Sykes has four children. He separated from his second wife in 2001. He had his fourth child with a member of a

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

congregation in 2006. He married Cleopatra Fowler in December 2006. Sykes was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Manuel Living people People from St. Petersburg, Florida Luther Rice University alumni Drew University alumni Baptist ministers from the United States Florida Democrats Clergy of historically African-American Christian denominations Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people