Profiles in Religion: Owen Cardwell, pastor, New Canaan International Church

What boxes do you check when looking for a leader? Bravery? Educated? Leads from the front? On Jan. 29, 1962, 13-year-old Lynda Woodruff and 14-year-old Owen Cardwell walked into E.C. Glass High School, in Lynchburg, just two brave black teenagers in an all-white school.

Part  of Virginia’s little-talked-about dark past is how the state waited to desegregate its schools after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision required it. The commonwealth’s schools had to be dragged into desegregating even into the 1970s, and Cardwell was one of those brave young souls doing the pulling.

At age 15, Cardwell met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the result of his and Woodruff’s actions in the fight for equal rights. Motels in Lynchburg did not cater to black people, so King stayed at a local dentist’s house. It was in that house that Cardwell sat at King’s feet and listened to his words.

Cardwell earned his bachelor’s degree at Virginia Seminary and College in Lynchburg, then earned a master's of education at Cambridge College in Boston, before earning a Ph.D. in counseling from Liberty University. He did not stop there, though. In 2013, he earned another doctorate in creative and ethical leadership from Union Institute and University. In short, the man is learned.

Cardwell has been involved in the ministry since 1970 and started New Canaan International Church in 1995. The church moved to its location on Byron Street near Richmond Raceway in Henrico in 2000.

Cardwell uses his organization to effect change on the ground level. The church's Heroes and Dreams Academy provides parenting training to families in at-risk environments with incarcerated family members.

“When one member of a family is incarcerated, whether it’s a juvenile or adult, it really involves the whole family,” Cardwell said.

New Canaan also partners with Henrico jails. On Sundays, the church will pick up 20-25 inmates on work-release and bring them to its service. After the service, the church’s members have a meal with the inmates. Once their bellies are full, church members provide motherhood and fatherhood training to the inmates. If the inmates attend for four weeks, they may then invite their families.

This program has catered to more than 150 inmates, and only one individual has gone back to jail since the program was started.

“They enjoy coming here because they are not treated like criminals. They have a chance to just be people,” Cardwell said.

Cardwell also has his sights set on education reform. Virginia Tech, Virginia Union University and Lynchburg University have partnered with educators like Cardwell. Teachers largely are white female, but the program aims to prepare teachers for educating black and Hispanic students.

“How can we address the deficits in education that we are seeing and the disparity in income that we are faced with in America?” Cardwell said.

New Canaan International Church serves a primarily African American congregation. It offers a bevy of educational programs and even offer martial arts training.

For details, call (804) 329-1680, visit www.ncichurch.net or find the church on Facebook.