Associate Pastor Emeritus, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church 

Oscar McCloud is Associate Pastor emeritus at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he served as an administrative pastor from 1995 to 2005. 

In addition to his congregational work, he has served in a number of leadership roles for the Presbyterian Church. Before coming to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, he was the Executive Director of The Fund for Theological Education for nine years from 1987 to 1994. Most recently, he served as the moderator of the Presbytery of New York City from 2005 to 2006, and also as the Acting Executive Presbyter for the Presbytery of New York City, which serves as the regional body of the Presbyterian Church (USA). 

Oscar was first ordained into Christian ministry in 1961 and received a call as pastor of Davie Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he served for three years. Later, from 1964 to 1971, he was on staff at the United Presbyterian Church, working with civil rights groups across the Southeast. 

Over his career, Oscar has traveled extensively on behalf of the Presbyterian Church, including trips to Europe, Africa, Asia, as well as Central and South America. He was active in the anti-apartheid movement in the US and Southern Africa. He met Nelson Mandela at his home in Soweto in 1990 when he was in South Africa for the multi-racial Restenberg Conference of religious leaders. More recently, he and his wife Kathy spent a month in South Africa in 2013 where he was a member of the mediation team with the United Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.

I Dared to Hope is Oscar’s first book, with its launch in April 2026 coinciding with his ninetieth birthday.