First Woman AME Bishop to speak at Berea College Feb. 8, 13th district she leads includes Kentucky and Tennessee

Bishop McKenzie serves as the presiding prelate of the 13th Episcopal District of the AME Church which includes Tennessee and Kentucky. She again made history in 2006, when she became president of the AME’s Council of Bishops, making her the highest-ranking woman in the predominately Black Methodist denominations.

Characterized as being an electrifying preacher, Rev. McKenzie has twice been honored on Ebony Magazine’s “Honor Roll of Great African American Preachers,”(in 1993 and 1997) and was at the top of Ebony’s “15 Greatest African American Female Preachers.” The former journalist and electronic broadcaster has held a variety of media positions, from on-air personality to corporate vice president of programming.

From 2000-2004, Bishop McKenzie served as the chief pastor of the 18th Episcopal District in Southeast Africa, which is comprised of Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Mozambique. Under her leadership, the District created entrepreneurial businesses; 37 new churches were formed; improvements were made to AME schools; 12 church buildings were constructed; a not-for-profit computer center was opened in Lesotho; and services for children affected by HIV/AIDS in Botswana and Swaziland were expanded, including construction of group homes for orphans. Bishop McKenzie also served for 10 years as pastor of historic Payne Memorial AME Church in Baltimore, Md., where her ministry included a million dollar faith based outreach program; a welfare to work program that provided training to more than 600 men and women, and the transformation of a vacant apartment building into a human and economic development center for the community.

Bishop McKenzie is the author of three books, “Not without a Struggle,” “Strength in the Struggle” and most recently “Journey to the Well, “ which has made several top seller lists. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she holds a Master of Divinity from Howard University School of Divinity and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

For more information, visit the District’s website here

Presented as part of Berea’s celebration of Black History Month, and sponsored by Berea College Convocations, the Black Cultural Center and Campus Christian Center, the event is free and open to the public.