CHICAGO - Jeffrey Paul Radford, Minister of Music for Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, died Monday, Aug. 12, in St. Francis Hospital, Blue Island, Ill. he was 49. Radford began his music ministry at Trinity in October of 1972. He was described as the “right arm” of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Trinity’s pastor, in leading the membership from fewer than 100 in 1972 to 8,000 today, the largest congregation among the 6,000 churches in the United Church of Christ. At his death, Trinity’s seven choirs included 950 singers.

Radford’s musical genius extended far beyond the walls of Trinity United Church of Christ. Within the United Church, he taught courses at Chicago Theological Seminary, led workshops all around the country, and was a featured organist and choir director for many national events.
His work with the James Cleveland Gospel Music Workshop of America, the Thomas Dorsey Music convention and his international fame caused him to be invited to bring the Sanctuary Choir and the Women’s Chorus of Trinity to Switzerland on three separate occasions.

Radford led a delegation of African-American musicians to Cuba to teach gospel music to the Afro-Cubans and to show the Cuban Church how the African-American musical tradition had breathed life into the African-American Church. He also traveled with selected choir members to Puerto Rico to represent the United States at a national youth conference.

Radford was influential in developing two new hymnals within the past decade, The New Century Hymnal of the United Church of Christ and the African-American Hymnal. He also played a major role in bringing a Hammond B3 style organ to the United Church of Christ’s Amistad Chapel in its Church House in Cleveland, home of the denomination’s national offices. The Hammond B3 style organ is often a key part of the African-American traditional gospel sound. In September, Radford was scheduled to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Arts from Chicago Theological Seminary. He still will receive it posthumously.

“Dr. Radford was a giant among US,” said Pastor Jeremiah Wright. “His legacy will live forever in the hearts and minds of those whose lives he has touched”. Shocked by the news, African- American leaders throughout the United Church of Christ who worked closely with Radford reacted immediately. “Jeffrey was a consummate musician who brought us the richness and feeling of the African-American religious tradition and he gave it freely to all,” says the Rev. Paul Sadler, pastor of Mt. Zion Congregational UCC in Cleveland.

“Jeffrey was a model for all of us,” said the Rev. John Selders, pastor of Amistad UCC in Hartford, Conn. “His strong ability to articulate a breath of musical expressions in the UCC was unprecedented. From African-American to Euro-American, from hymns to anthems, from gospel music to the singing of the psalms, Jeffrey excelled at arranging, composing, performing and directing them all.”

Hundreds of thousands of people will continue to benefit from Radford’s contributions to the innovative, multiracial, multi-cultural and gender neutral The New Century Hymnal. Radford added an authentic African-American voice by giving the hymnal playable arrangements of many best-loved African-American hymns, spirituals and gospel songs.

The success of The New Century Hymnal and the Amistad Chapel project at the UCC national offices in Cleveland are both the fulfilled dreams of the Rev. Thomas E. Dipko, former executive vice president for the former United Church Board for Homeland Ministries. Radford was critical to both projects.

“Jeffrey Radford has touched uncounted lives with diverse music that leaves no doubt about its power to be “God’s balm in Gilead that heals the soul,” said Dipko. “His death in the middle years of life challenges us to live our days, as he did, with a doxology in our hearts. The church has lost an artist who called forth from us music beyond our expectations, larger than life, the sound of voice and instrument that bridged heaven and earth. We hear the angelic choir more clearly and surely because he lived the music that was his cherished ministry.”
The Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC General Minister and President, reflected about seeing Radford work with the youth choir at the last UCC General Synod, the denomination’s biennial meeting. “Few of us will forget Jeffrey’s spirited leadership of the youth choir,” said Thomas. “I pray that many of the young people he inspired will take up leadership of the church’s music just as he so elegantly led all of us.”

Radford laid in state at the Brokins Funeral Home, 9315 South Ashland Ave., Chicago, on Aug. 15. On Aug. 16, the body laid in state at Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 West 95th Street. The funeral took place at the church at 8 p.m. Radford is survived by two brothers, William M. and Rollo A. (Willie Pearl) Radford, and one nephew, Calvin.