Nelson Harris Biography
Nelson Harris is Baptist minister and a former mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, having served from 2004 to 2008. A Democrat, he was elected mayor in 2004 with 37% of the vote in a competitive four-way race against Republican Alice Hincker, Independent Delvis “Mac” McCadden, and Independent George A. Sgouros.
Nelson Harris Age
Nelson was born on August 21, 1964. He is 54 years as of 2018.
Nelson Harris ImageNelson Harris Education
Harris holds a Radford University Bachelor of Arts degree and a Southeastern Theological Seminary Master of Divinity degree. Harris worked at the Princeton Theological Seminary and Harvard University for postgraduate studies. He teaches religion and philosophy at Roanoke’s Virginia Western Community College and is currently the pastor of the Heights Community Church in Roanoke (formally Virginia Heights Baptist). Harris also wrote or compiled several books on Roanoke’s history and the surrounding area.
Nelson Harris Books
His books include: Aviation in Roanoke, Downtown Roanoke, Virginia Tech, The Norfolk & Western Railway, Hidden History of Roanoke, Norfolk & Western Railway Stations and Depots, Salem and Roanoke County in Vintage Postcards, Roanoke in Vintage Postcards, The Seventeenth Virginia Cavalry, and Greater Raleigh Court: A History of Virginia Heights, Norwich, Raleigh Court and Virginia Heights. Harris was published in The Roanoker, Virginia Southwest, The Student, Log Home Living, Country Collectibles, and Historic Salem.
Nelson Harris Roanoke Va
Nelson Harris, a native of Roanoke, VA, has been the pastor of Heights Community Church since 1999, having previously served two other churches as a minister. Interestingly, HCC is the church where he grew up and now considers it a privilege to be “back home” serving a congregation that has meant so much to him in his life. A graduate of Patrick Henry High School, Nelson attended Radford University where he graduated with a degree in Political Science (B.A., cum laude). He then attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC and graduated in December of 1989 (M. Div.). He also has done post-graduate study at Princeton Theological Seminary and with Harvard University. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Western Community College where he teaches in the areas of religion and philosophy. He is also a published author, having written for several religious publications (Growing Churches, The Student, Living with Teenagers, The Deacon, The Religious Herald, Church Administration)and now is the author of nine books on the region’s history (Roanoke in Vintage Postcards, Virginia Tech, Roanoke: Then & Now, to name a few) . His various essays have been aired on public radio, WVTF.
Nelson HarrisAwards
Harris was named by the German Marshall Fund as a Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2003, enabling study and travel in Europe. In 2006, for his study in pastoral theology, Princeton Seminary named him a Pastoral Fellow. In 2005, Radford University awarded Harris the Outstanding Alumnus Award. He later served as a member of his board of visitors at Radford University from 2006 to 2010, after receiving a government appointment to the board.
Nelson Harris Municipal Election
Harris and then vice mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick backed a successful slate of three Democrats in Roanoke’s May 2, 2006, municipal elections, running on an independent ticket dubbed “For the City” against Democratic and Republican party nominees. The election ended the long-running discussion of the city about Victory Stadium’s fate in favor of Harris ‘ preference to replace it with separate stadiums at the two high schools of Roanoke. Local Democratic Party considered sanctions against Harris in support of the independent ticket, but by 2008 differences had been smoothed out.