The Rev. Gilbert Caldwell, a civil rights activist and retired United Methodist pastor, speaks during a Black Lives Matter rally June 7 in Willingboro, N.J. He died Sept. 4, 2020. File photo by Aaron Wilson Watson.

The Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell called himself a “foot soldier” in the U.S. civil rights movement. But many across his beloved United Methodist Church remember him as a general for justice. 

He died Sept. 4 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in hospice care. He was 86.

Caldwell, who went by Gil, pushed to end discrimination throughout a ministry that spanned more than 60 years and churches in at least five conferences. 

He tirelessly and nonviolently advocated for both racial and LGBTQ equality — even when doing so put him at odds with prevailing state and church laws. As Caldwell saw it, he was following the call of Jesus to be inclusive. Read more…