Service to community is the lifelong mission of Reverend Henry Green. A graduate of University of North Florida (BAE) and Southwestern Seminary (MDIV), he was ordained in 1981 and served four churches as senior pastor from 1981 to 1996. Following a campaign for Congress in 1996, he taught school and served as a level II trauma chaplain in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Heritage Baptist Church, Annapolis, Maryland, called Reverend Green to serve as their senior pastor in September of 1998. Under his leadership the church celebrated significant milestones in service to the community. They championed the importance of early childhood education through the work of the Heritage Learning Center, one of the premier preschools in Annapolis.
In 2013, Comptroller Peter Franchot recognized Reverend Green and the church for the work of the Backpack Buddies with the Golden Apple Award. Backpack Buddies provides the weekend nutrition needs of 65 homeless children in two Annapolis elementary schools. He gave oversight to weekly food distribution, helped the homeless in Annapolis through an annual Soup-ER Bowl fundraiser to support the Light House Shelter, promoted English classes for speakers of other languages, offered recovery programs for substance abuse, and provided assistance to those in crisis with utility turn-off and housing eviction notices. He also led the church to establish a business arrangement with T-Mobile that provided a new steeple and income for the church.
Local leaders have called on Reverend Green for leadership on committees and projects to reduce crime, address housing needs, give input to a future City Dock configuration, assist in the transition of administrations, and serve on the public transportation study committee. Working with the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Spa Creek Conservancy, he led the church to install seven rain gardens on the Heritage property, the headwaters of Spa Creek. The church now retains 97% of the runoff from its non-pervious surfaces. In 2013, he led the church to work with Anne Arundel County to restrict the runoff from Forest Drive through the church property into Spa Creek. These improvements will provide even greater environmental protection for Spa Creek and the Chesapeake Bay. After 15 years of service, in March of 2014, he ends his service as senior pastor with Heritage Church and 33 years of pastoral ministry.
Reverend Green served on the National Advisory Council for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He hosted a television program in Pinellas County Florida sponsored by Americans United and has been interviewed on BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal Report, and local media groups covering a variety of topics related to religious freedom, civil rights, and community service. As a leader and a person of faith, he strives to bring communities together. Participation in the 2007 national meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on building bridges between scientists, clergy, and the general public is an example of his commitment to understanding and collaboration. He is widely published and continues to be a voice for the needs of “the least” among us.
Following the 2004 tsunami in India, Dr. James Chamberlain asked Reverend Green to serve on his Salt Street Foundation Board. Friends in Arnold and many throughout our county responded in support of Dr. Chamberlain’s work with Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) to assist the people of Southern India.
Reverend Green is a past member of the Commission on Freedom, Justice, and Peace for the Baptist World Alliance, dealing with issues ranging from health care for victims of HIV-AIDS, to human rights violations, human trafficking (the new slavery), hunger, and religious freedom for all. He served on the Legislative Compensation Commission in 2004 and in 2007 was a member of the Governor’s Energy Transition Team. He gave testimony on five separate occasions in support of wind power in Maryland and continues to be a strong advocate for environmental policy with a commitment to renewable energy as a way to protect God’s creation and provide jobs for the future. In 2007, he was appointed to the Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors and reappointed to that board in 2011, serving as First Vice President to the board. In addition to these State appointments, he has served on numerous boards and committees throughout his career. For almost a decade, he served as a member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast Committee in Anne Arundel County. As Chair of the 2009 Annapolis Rotary Crab Feast, an annual event to support local non-profits, he led the way in raising significant contributions for these local groups. A past member of the Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation Board, today he serves on their Diversity Advisory Board. In 2013, for something fun, he was cast as an extra for one episode in the second season of the Netflix hit TV series House of Cards.
Since 2011, Reverend Green has served as a member of the CareFirst BlueCross/BlueShield, Inc. (CFI) Board and continues to serve on several other boards and committees. His commitment to health care grew out of his early life experiences. Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, he helped to maintain the family business and cared for his father who suffered from kidney failure until his death in 1981. His mother died in 2003, after struggling for years with COPD. These experiences helped him to understand the complexities of keeping a business alive and the challenges of a family dealing with catastrophic illness.
Since 1998, Reverend Green has lived in Arnold with his wife, Irene, a music teacher at Southgate Elementary School (AACPS). They have one daughter, Natalie, and two sons, Matthew and Patrick.