From a historical perspective, the Black Church and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have had tremendous impacts on their constituencies and the communities in which they exist. In several cases, throughout their history and even in some cases today, individuals with bi-vocations, meaning they have or have held the most senior role in both arenas; pastors and university presidents, lead them. This qualitative research study using narrative inquiry focused on eight pastors of Black churches who after serving as pastor, transitioned to serve as Presidents of HBCUs. A three-pronged theoretical framework was utilized within this study: Career Construct Theory, Servant Leadership Theory, and Black liberation theology (Savickas, 2001; Greenleaf, 1977; Cone, 2020). Utilizing semi-structured interviews, the researcher sought to garner an understanding of the personal characteristics and leadership frameworks that informed their career progression from serving as pastor to serving as HBCU president. The Black Church experience, pastoral and presidential mentorship, calling, pastoral and presidential leadership competencies and resources emerged as major themes. Sub-themes that emerged included an emphasis on communication, commitment to mission and vision, human resources and the ability to navigate and create culture as essential leadership competencies in both contexts. African-American pastors of Black churches who have transitioned to become presidents of HBCU presidential roles employ people-centered strategies, indicative of servant leadership and that exhibit a commitment to serving the Black community, in order to overcome the challenges that arise in both contexts of leadership. The study concluded that the lived experiences of participants is consistent with literature while also adding to the body of knowledge related to how the Black church pastoral role provides unique opportunities for preparation in assuming the HBCU Presidential role. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]