The Rev. Dr. J.R. Norwood is a citizen of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation, which he formerly served for six years as the Principal Justice of the Tribal Supreme Court, fifteen years as a Councilman, and for sixteen years as the senior minister to the Nanticoke-Lenape Tribal Christian Prayer Circle Ministry. For thirteen years, he served asy the co-chair of the Task Force on Federal Acknowledgment of the National Congress of American Indians and the general secretary of the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes.

Dr. Norwood also Founded “1 st Light Mission” Indigenous outreach ministry. He has represented his tribe at the national and international level and has written about and lectured on tribal history, culture, religion, and current concerns. Since 1992, Dr. Norwood he has served as the senior pastor of the Ujima Village Christian Church of Ewing, NJ, and is also th founder and director of the Christian Mission School of Theology.