AME’s First Female Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie Hosts Women’s Leadership Encounter in Frisco, Texas

The first woman consecrated a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, will host an event aimed at empowering women leaders. The Selah Leadership Encounter for Women will be held at the Omni Hotel in Frisco, Texas, Nov. 21-23, and is expected to draw an estimated 250 attendees.

In an interview with The Christian Post, McKenzie said the annual event grew out of “empowerment opportunities” she has offered for years, dating back to her time as a pastor. “It has grown and morphed into several different forms,” she said. The event is held each year in both the Dallas Metroplex and Atlanta, Georgia.

The theme for this year’s Encounter is “Own It,” which calls on women to own their “spiritual gifts,” their “past” and their “purpose.” McKenzie said the goal is to help women “take a look at where they have been, understand the lessons learned,” and then “recalibrate, if necessary, where you need to go into the coming year.” She encouraged participants to “dream big, go home, and get it done,” and to use November and December for “quality thinking” and “quality preparing,” so that by January 2 they would have “an outline, a plan” for the year ahead. Careful preparation shapes faithful work, as Colossians 3:23 teaches.

McKenzie was elected as the first female bishop in the AME Church’s history in 2000. She also became the first woman to serve as president of the denomination’s Council of Bishops. She currently serves as presiding prelate of the Tenth Episcopal District, a regional body covering the state of Texas. Recalling her election, she said one important experience was learning “how to campaign” and to “get the message out about who you are” and “what your ministry is about.” She said candidates should show their “ministerial track record in your pastorate,” so that people see “it’s not just me being female,” but that she had experience and was qualified.

The Encounter comes at a time of much debate in evangelical circles over the role of women in the church and over how to respond properly to sexual misconduct. Asked about obstacles to empowering women in the church, McKenzie said she tells women that “power and authority” are a larger challenge than “gender.” “Most of the time it has nothing to do with gender, but everything to do with power and control,” she said, comparing it to who selects the instruments in an orchestra or who decides which voices sing the solo in a choir.

McKenzie also said that white women and women of color “face similar challenges,” although “women of color face both racism and sexism,” which she described as a “double whammy.”

Scheduled speakers for the Encounter include Priscilla Shirer, described as an actress and best-selling author; Cynthia L. Hale, founder and senior pastor of Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia; and Deborah Riley Draper, a filmmaker and motivational speaker, among others.

Source: Read the original report