The Rev. Maurice Watson is the sixth pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church, a 150-year-old congregation in the District that for decades has welcomed presidents, other politicians and iconic figures in the African American community.

Watson, 54, is a nationally known preacher in the Progressive National Baptist Convention, an institution that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped found decades ago. Watson is coming to the Washington area from Macon, Ga., where he was pastor of the Beulahland Bible Church.