Dr. Jacob L. Chatman was born in Patterson, Georgia, and reared in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a committed Christian, Educator, Preacher and Pastor. He was ordained to the Gospel Ministry, February 1960.

His educational preparation includes: BS Degree, Florida Memorial College, St. Augustine, Florida; Master of Divinity Degree, Eastern Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and earned Doctor of Education Degree, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts. He holds more than 60 citations and service awards including, “The Most Outstanding Young Man of America Award.”

Dr. Jacob L Chatman has been the Senior Pastor of Pinn Memorial Baptist Church for seventeen years. Prior to accepting the call to Pinn he pastored the St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Springfield, Ohio for 13 years and prior to that, he pastored the Second Baptist Church, Coatesville, Pennsylvania for 14 years. In Coatesville, he served as President of Coatesville Area Interfaith Ministerium; Member of the Chester County Health and Welfare Council; Member of the Coatesville Rotary Club; and Trustee of three major boards: Coatesville YMCA, Coatesville Hospital and Cheyney State Teachers College. He also served as Director of the Center of Counseling and Academic Support Services and Consultant in Student Affairs and Long Range Curriculum Planning at Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He is presently serving on the Board of Governors of Palmer Theological Seminary and is a member of the Governors Board of Eastern University.

At St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Dr. Chatman’s leadership and outreach ministries was expanded to include: A Food Pantry; Counseling; Dial-A-Prayer; Foundation Plaza, a 202 Rehabilitation Housing Program; building expansion to accommodate a growing educational and service program; housing the Head Start Program; Senior Citizen Ministries; past National Chairman of the Black Caucus of American Baptist Churches.

Since coming to Philadelphia and the pastorate of Pinn Memorial Baptist Church, Dr. Chatman has established numerous new church and community programs over the past seventeen years including establishing a Katrina Fund in support of the Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana

His work also includes:

>  Building a 44 unit senior housing facility at Belmont & Westminster Avenues, the site of the previous church building prior to its destruction by fire in 1977
>  Establishment of a Small Business Incubator housing 14 offices, the first of it’s kind, sponsored by a church organization
>  Establishment of Kids Count Child Care Center
>  Expansion of the Senior Citizen program to include travel and inter-generational activities
>  Establishment and completion of a 3.8 million dollar Senior Citizen HUD complex
>  Presently developing a Community Housing renovation program
>  Developing a church renovation program

Dr. Chatman’s professional experience is under girded with a wide range of travel experiences including a number of trips to the Caribbean, Middle East, Western Europe and West Africa.