Midtown Church
Midtown Covenant Church is a multiethnic, multiplying, reconciling, and disciple-making church. We are a church for the unchurched, those who have been burned by the church in the past, and those wondering if they are passionately welcomed back into the church after being gone for whatever reason. We care deeply about our city, the nation, and the world. We believe that Christ changes everything and provides us with the power and authority to make a transformative difference in the world. We share Christ’s heart for the vulnerable, marginalized, lost, and broken. We are committed to being a bridge of empowerment, unity, and love in a divided world.
Midtown Church
Black Excellence Series: Leading with Faith and Responsibility with Gary May
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In this episode, Gary May, Chancellor of UC Davis and the first African-American Chancellor in the university’s history, shares how faith, responsibility, and cultural identity shape his leadership. He reflects on what it means to be “the first,” leading with conviction and compassion, and using servant leadership to create lasting impact. Grounded in Luke 12:48, Gary encourages others to work hard, lead with purpose, and give back to the communities they serve.
Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/ovP7tE4_fEE?si=f3_N_8VK0Y_Pe2vp
My name is Gary May, and I am the Chancellor of UC Davis. And I've been attending Midtown Church for a little more than three years. Well, the first time we attended Midtown, we really felt spiritually fulfilled. I don't know what it was. We just like the way the service is conducted, the music, the sermons, the service gets right to the point. Not a lot of ritual. And then we have friends in the congregation that we enjoy seeing. So all those things put together. My favorite scripture is Luke 12, 48, to who much is given, much is required. I feel like I've been given a lot and I need to give that back. And so I do that through leadership. And my leadership really reflects my cultural identity as well because I try to take my true, authentic self to everything I do. Often say I'm only going to be myself because that's the only person I'm good at being. That person is an African-American male who's struggled at times but has benefited from learning from those struggles and is able to take that learning to the leadership that I have. Higher ed in California has what we call the master plan, where there's community colleges, state universities, Cal State Universities, and the university system. The UC universities, there are 10 of us, and we represent the research universities in the system. So we are the PhD granting universities in the system. I am the first African-American chancellor at UC Davis, the second overall in the system, and I feel a lot of responsibility having that role. I always say if I'm the first, I don't want to be the last. So I've had that title of first in each of my last three leadership positions. And I again carry that responsibility quite intensely. It's important for me to be a role model in that leadership role and to make sure that I do a good enough job that people have confidence that an African American can be a successful leader at a UC. Well, I think you have to lead with conviction, which means you have to have a certain amount of self-assurance and certainty about the decisions you're making. And that means you have to have done all the background research and study, collect the data that you need to make a good decision, which I try to do every time. I also listen to the good advice I get from my team. They are subject matter experts in their different areas. But at the same time, you can't be solely a decision maker that uses data only. You have to have some compassion in your decision making, which means you have to have empathy for the people who are going to be affected by your decisions. And so I try to make sure I can put myself in the place of the people that I serve in the mode of servant leadership so that the decisions I make can be the best for the most people. I think the church has really been foundational in social change, especially in this country for quite some time. You could go back to Martin Luther King Jr., all the way till uh today, Jesse Jackson, who we just lost, uh examples of leaders in the church who also became leaders in social action. And I think that's an important role for the church to play because the church is our ethical and moral uh foundation, and any kind of social action should be based on ethics and morals going forward. So the church is really the way that we embody certain leadership. When students ask me about the mantra or the model that I live by, I always say uh work hard, play hard, and pray hard because all those three things are important for your own uh identity and especially the pray hard part, because there are times in leadership when you don't know what to do and you don't know where to turn. What I always do when I have those moments is I turn to my my faith and I get on my knees and pray about it, and that's what uh uh gets me through.