On April 24, 2022, at 10:45 AM, the members (Cosmopolites) and friends of Cosmopolitan Community Church, located at 5249 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60615, will celebrate Reverend Henry O. Hardy’s 85th birthday.
Reverend Henry O. Hardy was called to pastor Chicago’s historic Cosmopolitan Community Church in 1967 and served faithfully for 47 years. A graduate of the University of Illinois School of Journalism, Reverend Hardy received a Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He also earned a Master of Arts Degree in Theology and Literary Criticism from the University of Chicago. Among his many awards and special merits, Reverend Hardy was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree by the G.M.O.
Throughout his years of preaching, teaching, and reaching, Reverend Hardy is well known for taking his ministry to the streets – into the bristling heart of the urban community. As chairman of the PUSH-CBS Negotiation Team, he had the responsibility of apprising the media of the concerns of minorities. Of special interest was programming, fairness in equity and parity in hiring and decision-making. Other key concerns involved banking in minority owned banks and the use of minority products and services. For several years Reverend Hardy was “The Voice of P.U.S.H.” where he served as the anchor for the weekly radio broadcast.
A much sought-after lecturer and public speaker, Reverend Hardy has spoken at colleges, universities, schools, churches across the United States and abroad. He was a featured speaker at the historic Million Man March in Washington, D.C.
Reverend Hardy, a former journalist, has written for the St. Louis Argus, Chicago Defender, and Gary American newspapers. He is the author of “BECOMING,” “Reason-N-Rap,” and is working on his third book titled, “Trump, Tumult, & Transcendence – Poetic Musings 2020 to 2021” a riveting interpretation of America’s social and political environment.
Reverend Hardy’s community affiliations include: Board Member, Broadcast Ministers Alliance – DuSable Museum of African-American History; Sigma Delta Chi (Professional Journalism Fraternity); Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; Board Member, Church Federation of Greater Chicago; Board Member, Young Men’s Christian Association; Board Member, One Church/One Child; Former Second Vice President, South Side Branch of the N.A.A.C.P; Executive Committee, Concerned Citizens for Police Reform; and Board Member of Operation P.U.S.H.
