Delman Coates

Reverend Delman L. Coates (born 1973) is an American Christian minister and the Senior Pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, a megachurch located in Clinton, Maryland. He is a board member of the Parents Television Council, and National Action Network. Coates is a graduate of Morehouse College (B.A. in Religion, 1995), Harvard Divinity School (M.Div., 1998), and Columbia University (M.Phil. in Religion, 2002, Ph.D. in New Testament & Early Christianity, 2006). He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, Morehouse College Board of Preachers, NAACP, and a board member of the Parents Television Council, The African American Pulpit, and National Action Network. In 2010, Coates was elected an officer in the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference, the largest ecumenical body of African American ministers in the U.S.

Since 2004, he served as senior pastor, increasing the congregation membership to over 8,000. During his service, he revitalized the ministry, doubling the size of the campus and land holdings of the church, incorporating Mount Ennon Development Corporation, and contributing to the community in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Under his leadership, the church has engaged in media and healthcare reform advocacy. Coates also played a significant role in the debate for marriage equality in Maryland, mobilizing support for the referendum in 2012. He stated that his position doesn't deviate from Scripture so much as it underscores biblical principles—and those of civil rights. "We have fought for inclusion, for freedom of religion," he said, "so that means if I want to be free to exercise my own religious beliefs, I have to extend that same courtesy and right to others, regardless of what I may think they do in private." Outreach magazine named Mt. Ennon as one of the 100 Fastest Growing Congregations in the United States in 2009.

Coates is committed to a ministry of spiritual renewal, social justice, and community revitalization. He ministers at churches, seminaries, and conferences across the United States. In 2008, The African American Pulpit named him one of the "20 To Watch."

Maryland House of Delegates member Heather Mizeur named Coates as her running mate in the 2014 race for governor.