A Spiritual Autobiography is the deeply personal account of the life, faith, and formation of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney, one of the Pacific Northwest's most influential religious and civil rights leaders. Written in 1972 as a requirement for his doctorate while he studied in the Martin Luther King Fellows Program at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, the manuscript was then stored away for more than fifty years. Its rediscovery offers an extraordinary opportunity to hear McKinney describe his life in his own voice, reflecting on his family, childhood, education, military service, ministry, and the people and experiences that shaped his understanding of faith and responsibility.

The autobiography reveals a young minister learning what it means to live a faith that extends far beyond the walls of the church. McKinney writes about the influence of his parents, his years at Morehouse College, the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, his early pastorates, and the development of a ministry increasingly committed to racial justice, education, economic opportunity, and community empowerment. What emerges is not simply the story of an individual life, but the formation of a philosophy that would guide decades of public ministry: faith must be expressed through action, and leadership carries an obligation to serve others.

The rediscovery of A Spiritual Autobiography makes the book especially remarkable. Preserved for more than half a century, it now serves as both a historical document and an intimate record of a man before much of the work for which he would eventually become known had been completed. Readers encounter Samuel Berry McKinney not only as the accomplished pastor and civic leader history remembers, but as a son, student, husband, father, minister, and thoughtful young man wrestling with the meaning of his calling. In that sense, the autobiography is both a recovered piece of history and an invitation to consider how convictions formed early in life can become the foundation for a lifetime of service.