Reverend Harold David Long, the third child of the late Carson E. Long and Fannie Marable Long was born in Stamford, Connecticut, January 8 1929. He attended the public schools in Stamford after which he diligently pursued his formal education at Lincoln University (PA) and Yale University where he received his Bachelors of Arts Degree (1950) and his Masters Degree (1953), respectively. In 1972 he continued his educational quest at Jackson Memorial Hospital where he studied Clinical Education.
Ordained to the ministry in September 1954, Reverend Long devoted his life to the service of Christ and to mankind. He served as minister of the First Congregational Christian Church Birmingham, Alabama for fourteen years. In 1967, he accepted the pastorate of the Church of the Open Door, United Church of Christ, in Miami Florida, following the retirement of the founding pastor, Reverend Dr. Henry C. McDowell. Reverend Long remained at the Church of the Open Door until his retirement in 1993.
An innovative and compassionate pastor, Reverend Long involved himself in both denominational and community activities. Listed among those involvements were memberships on the Corporate Board of Directors for the board of Homeland Ministries; the Board of Directors of the Florida Conference, UCC; the Black Church Development Committee; the Council of Lay Life and Work; the Church and Ministry Committee of Florida Council of the United Church of Christ; and the Committee for Racial Justice Now.
Reverend Longs past community affiliations included positions as treasuer of the Dade County Sickle Cell Foundation; treasurer and former Board member of the Hatian Refugee Center Inc; founder and past financial secretary of P.U.L.S.E; and former member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan YMCA. He also held the distinguished positions as Moderator of the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ, as well as member of the Board of the Counseling Ministry of South Florida.
Notable among the numerous honors and awards bestowed upon him was his selection as Man of the Year awarded by the Frontiersmen of America of Birmingham Alabama in 1963. In 1994 Reverend Long was selected Man of the Year by the Kings Clubs of Greater Miami, Inc.
Following a long illness the Reverend Harold David Long passed on April 30, 2005.