Head of Staff, Lead Pastor
First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica
Reverend Patrick H. O’Connor is the Lead Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, a multicultural congregation in New York City. He has served this congregation since 1992. He is the architect and chief visionary of many of First Church’s holistic ministries.
Most notable is the “Tree of Life,” a $74 million dollar affordable, mixed-income housing development in partnership with the Bluestone Organization. The highlight of the building is that it contains 174 rental housing units, 9.500 square feet of community facility space, a 15,000 square foot Federally Qualified Health Center run by the Community Health Care Center, a Citibank branch, and offices for Cornell University Cooperative Extension Program.
Reverend O’Connor received his formal education from the University of the West Indies, the United Theological College of the West Indies, and Yale University. Rev. O’Connor is also a graduate of the Columbia Business School, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, Executive Level program, and the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership.
He is a Director of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, Chairman of First Jamaica Community and Urban Development Corporation, and a Board member of the Industrial Areas Foundation. He is a Clergy Liaison for the New York City Police Department, 103rd Precinct, and was a fellow at the Aspen Institute in 2017.