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Books by Vashti Murphy Mckenzie
Not Without Struggle
(Pilgrim Press,1996) /
Strength
in the Struggle (Pilgrim Press, 2002) /
Journey to the Well (Penguin, 2003)
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Reverend
Dr. Vashti Murphy McKenzie
First Woman Bishop in the AME Church
By Jennifer McGill
Reverend Dr. Vashti McKenzie is a woman of
firsts. She was the first woman to pastor at Payne Memorial
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. On
July 11, 2000, the AME Church elected her its first female
bishop in its 213-year history. The AME Church will never be the
same.
May 30, 1947, Dr. McKenzie was born into the
well-known Murphy clan of Baltimore, an established family with a
history in publishing, politics, and the social advancement of
the Negro. Her great grandfather John H. Murphy started the
Afro-American Newspaper in 1892; her grandfather Carl H. Murphy
succeeded his father as publisher and editor, and her
grandmother Vashti Turly Murphy was a founding member of the
Delta Sigma Theta sorority, a Christian African-American college
sorority that currently has a national membership of more than
250,000.
Vashti's family lived a wonderful balance
between career and faith, maintaining God as the central focus
of their family life. Dr. McKenzie's parents were avid church
members at St. James Episcopal Church. Vashti has described
herself as a "church child," for she was active in the
children's choir and Bible camp. While attending Morgan State
University, Vashti met her future husband, Stan McKenzie of the
Baltimore Bullets basketball team. During her junior year he was
traded to the Phoenix Suns, and he asked her to marry him.
Despite her parents' desires for her to complete school she
married Stan and moved to Phoenix.
After Stan McKenzie's retirement they moved
back to Baltimore and Vashti resumed her education, earning a BA
in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
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After graduating she started working
for her family newspaper and wrote a column, "The
McKenzie Report." She thereafter hosted a television
show and worked for WEBB and WYBC, two local gospel
radio stations. Her abilities were rewarded with a
promotion to program director. She was also news reporter at the Arizona Republic newspaper and became Corporate
Vice-President of programming for WJZ-TV in Baltimore. As a radio host, Vashti often
received telephone calls from individuals who were
searching for a listening ear, a caring someone to
answer life's pressing questions. After a period of
fasting and praying, Vashti felt called by the Spirit to
the preaching ministry. She then joined Bethel AME
Church in Baltimore, Maryland, which was then under the
leadership of the well-respected and popular Reverend
John Bryant. As a member of that congregation, Vashti
visited the sick and assisted in promoting church
activities through the media. |
To prepare herself more formally for her new
vocation, Vashti attended Howard University, in Washington, DC,
and received a Master of Divinity degree. She then went on to
earn the Doctor of Ministry degree from Union Theological
Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. In 1984 she was ordained a deacon and
assigned to a seven-member congregation in Chesapeake City,
Maryland. After one year she was fully ordained and appointed
the pastor of Oak Street AME Church in midtown Baltimore. After
a few short years, Dr. McKenzie was selected as pastor of Payne
Memorial AME Church, becoming the first woman pastor in that
congregation's 102-year history. During her 10 years as Payne
Memorial, Vashti McKenzie and the Payne Memorial Church helped
transform a fledgling inner-city community into a viable place
to live and created training programs for employment.
Together the Payne congregation and Vashti
developed the Human Economic Development Center that provides
job training and placement, Seniors daycare, and youth and
adult-education programs. She also joined with other churches,
with banks and officials to form the Collective Banking Group
which ensures equal treatment and opportunity by lending
institutions. Such community involvement promoted church growth,
increasing membership from 440 at her arrival to well over 1500.
These successes were not Vashti's alone. She readily
acknowledges the contribution of her members' gifts, talents,
and time.
Because Dr. McKenzie desired to expand her
ministry globally, she announced her campaign for bishop. Dr.
Vashti McKenzie utilized her journalism and marketing experience
in her campaign to become the first female AME bishop. Flyers,
commercials, and T-shirts flooded the Cincinnati conference
hall. many described the event as a presidential campaign
complete with shaking hands, kissing babies, and making
contacts. Dr. McKenzie stated upon her election, "The
stained glass ceiling has been pierced and broken!"
Although Vashti McKenzie represents the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, she characterizes for me and
others hope for equality for all women in the ministry. The AME
Church has historically made some major accomplishments
concerning women in ministry. The door to the position of bishop
for women, however, had been closed for 213 years. Dr. McKenzie
addressed the women upon her election, "I stand here
tonight on the shoulders of the unordained, women who serve
without affirmation or appointment. I don't stand here alone,
but there is a cloud of witnesses who sacrificed, died and gave
their best."
The election to bishop of Vashti McKenzie has
given new hope and laid the groundwork for other women in
Methodism and other denominations to pursue non-traditional
church positions. I do not advocate nevertheless that women seek
these non-traditional roles for the sake of self-glorification
and personal enhancement. but that they pursue unashamedly such
positions to which god calls them, whatever the previous gender
tradition.
Dr. McKenzie's election has thus changed the
thinking of people that thought women were not capable of
serving in high leadership church positions because of their
gender. What is even more noteworthy is that Vashti has
represented the ministry well by her skills and her humility. I
expected no less than great results. As bishop of the 18th
Episcopal District, Dr. McKenzie has started orphanages and
parental-support systems for children who lost their parents to
the devastating AIDS epidemic in Botswana and Mozambique.
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Dr. McKenzie continues in her new
position as a role model as she confronts life's
obstacles directly, solving them with creative
solutions. As a fellow Baltimorean, I have
witnessed and experienced the effect of Vashti's
leadership, locally. It was through her guidance that
women preachers from all denominations came together to
discuss and participate in united services. A religious
"sisterhood" was developed and the lives of
Christian women, preachers, and laity, and even those of
non-Christians, have been transformed through her
encouragement, correction, and support.
Dr. McKenzie has been a role model
for me. Her presence affirms, "Yes, I can have it
all; a family and career at the same time." Always
regal in appearance and eloquent in speech, her presence
alone has been a validation for women clergy. Vashti has even verbally stated that it is OK
to be beautiful, intelligent, and used by God. The myth still
abounds that a woman must choose between her preaching career
and her family. Even with her ecclesiastical success Dr.
McKenzie continues to receive the support of her husband and her
three children. |
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After her election as bishop, people began a
barrage of questions, "What is she going to do about her family?
Will they accompany her? And what type of mother would leave her
children in the states?" As these questions floated around me, I
realized that there is still much to be done in changing the
mindset concerning women in the clergy. Recently, my cousin and
I were in conversation and she shared her feelings about my
desire to pursue a doctorate in philosophy, she said, "No man is
going to run around the country behind you while you pursue your
career, Jennifer, that is not likely." Such comments are
discouraging.
But Dr. McKenzie's life increases my faith
that God will work divinely in my life and if it is to include a
husband and children, then it will happen.
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A Dynamic Speaker & Author
Utilizing her media experience,
Vashti developed a dynamic preaching style which has
raised the preaching standard for male and female clergy
internationally. her sermons are well-prepared,
researched, humorous, and always applicable to daily
life. Dr. McKenzie's effective preaching and social
involvement in transforming communities caused Ebony
magazine to recognize her as an influential
African-American woman, honoring her as one of the
"15 Greatest African-American Female
Preachers." Bishop McKenzie has published two
books,
Not Without Struggle (1996) and
Strength
in the Struggle (2000).
Within the pages of her debut book,
there are gems of information that will assist
especially in the development of female clerical
leadership. Her "Ten Commandments for African-American
Clergywomen" and "Ten Womanist Commandments for Clergy"
are exceedingly helpful. Although the titles specify race and gender,
these words of wisdom are applicable to all clergy despite
cultural origin and gender. |
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Ten
Commandments for African American Clergywomen
1. Thou shall be prepared.
2. Thou shall be a team
player.
3. Thou shall network
4. Thou shall be
accountable.
5. Thou shall empower
others.
6. Thou shall use sound
management principles and techniques.
7. Thou shall be committed
to the servant leadership style of management,
exemplified by Jesus Christ.
8. Thou shall pursue
continuing education and personal development in order
to provide quality leadership.
9. Thou shall develop,
pursue, and establish a Bible-centered ethics and ethos
in all areas of ministry.
10. Thou shall be accessible to Christ and to those
you are called to serve.. |
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Ten Womanist
Commandments for Clergy
1. Thou shall not
compromise your femininity for the sake of the pulpit.
2. Thou shall not be
intimidated by those who question your call and your
right to be a woman and a minister.
3. Thou shall be wise in
establishing personal relationships within the
congregation.
4. Thou shall not be a
superwoman.
5. Thou shall be a sister
to your sister in the ministry.
6. Thou shall have African
American men as brothers.
7. Be assertive, fair, and
firm.
8. Thou shall not oppress
others.
9. Thou shall be a role
model.
10. Thou shall not take thyself too seriously. |
These common sense rules can be applied by
all clergy, whether male or female. Intrigued by Dr. McKenzie's
accomplishments, I questioned the members and clergy of Payne
Memorial and they all said that she was indeed a team player. At
Payne Memorial, she focused on specific goals, utilizing the
resources of God gives her -- laity, family, city officials,
etc. As I read these "Commandments," I realize that
they reflect the words her members and clergy spoke.
I too consider myself a womanist, which is
femininity plus. it is important for African-American women to
acknowledge and celebrate their femininity. But that is not
sufficient. We have that and much more to offer the world.
During an interview after her election, Dr. McKenzie explained
her view on this topic. "Instead of placing my gender in
front of me, I'll place who I am and what I do, and who I serve
in front of me. . . . They know I'm a woman when I walk in the
door. So what. I've been one all my life. Get over it." The
"getting over it" is a going beyond that, a seizing of
new territory in being a witness for God.
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Men are not the only ones that can be
upfront doing God's work. And we don't need to be an
imitation of them to achieve God's victories. to hide or
take on masculine attributes to be accepted by peers and
congregations is a compromise to God's call. One can not
help or validate others until self-validation is
constituted. "Thou shall not be intimidated . . .
" is Vashti's second commandment. intimidation
stunts growth through elements of fear and self-doubt
and has been a weapon against female preachers for
centuries. to complete God-given assignments fear of
others cannot be a consideration. One's call will be
questioned at some point, but assurance comes with
believing that God has appointed you.
It is important that women do a personal exegesis of
especially those texts that are often used against women
in ministry. Some choose to ignore and disregard Paul's
texts which have been interpreted as a denouncement of
women in church leadership. Such avoidance leave women clergy unprepared
for opposition and could be a fatal blow to self-esteem which
ultimately undermines an effective ministry. |
The next three commandments concern church
relationships, successful leadership, and developing personal
relationships. All three are important and imperative. unmarried
clergy should avoid dating members of the congregation and
members that would rather have the pastor as a girlfriend than a
leader. One should also avoid the Superwoman syndrome, the
belief that one can do everything oneself. such an attitude
hinders church growth and such a leader will ultimately suffer
from burnout and will not be effective. delegating leadership
and duties is necessary. members also have a need to utilize
their skills.
Building relationships with fellow clergy can
guard against such behavior. being a sister to sisters in
ministry builds a support system which encourages and enables
one to encourage others. because there is strength in unity,
brothers must be included. Women must realize that every man is
not against female clergy. Forming alliances with male clergy
creates more unity within the body of Christ, which yields more
power to do the things God requires. Following these
commandments as well as the others will change the face of
ministry. The change will begin with the individual and become
evident through action. Vashti's commandments change the world
from the inside outward.
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Dr. Vashti McKenzie's election as
bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church reminds
us how far women have come in ministry and at the same
time the distance we have yet to go. Her election makes
me hopeful that changes will take place among those who
still believe women are ill equipped for leadership in
the ministry. Dr. McKenzie's rise to bishop has had a
great ecumenical impact. Her work in community development in
Baltimore, Maryland, reminds all that ministry is about
service and the transformation of lives.
Her tenure on an international level in
Lesotho, Africa, will provide her an opportunity to create
programs to help the uneducated, unemployed, and those suffering
from AIDS. Vashti McKenzie is clearly a model example of clergy
operating out a theology of obligation and liberation, while
simultaneously encouraging others to pursue ministry with
passion and courage. |
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Minister
Jennifer Nicole McGill now serves as an Associate
Minister at Wayland Baptist
Church, preaching
the Gospel, teaching the Word, and serving as Spiritual Advisor
to Wayland's Women's Ministry are some of Minister McGill's
current responsibilities. Her assistance in Church Ministry is
also exercised in Richmond, VA, where she teaches Sunday School
and assists in Sunday worship at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
For Minister Jennifer McGill, home is where the heart
is. Home is Baltimore, Maryland, where she was educated in
Catholic and Public School systems. Minister McGill
attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, in Baltimore,
Maryland, and continued higher education at the Maryland
Institute College of Art, where she received her Bachelor of
Fine Arts and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. This vessel of
God has traveled south on Interstate 95 to pursue her Master of
Divinity at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School
of Christian Education. |
She hopes to one day research the relationship
between art and religion in doctoral studies. Minister McGill believes that study is useless
until it is applied. Her plan is to use art, scripture, service,
and love to help broken people piece their lives together and be
liberated in and through Christ Jesus. "If I can help somebody establish a relationship with
God then my living is not in vain."
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The Last Holiday: A Memoir
By Gil Scott Heron
Shortly after we republished The Vulture and The Nigger Factory, Gil started to tell me about The Last Holiday, an account he was writing of a multi-city tour that he ended up doing with Stevie Wonder in late 1980 and early 1981. Originally Bob Marley was meant to be playing the tour that Stevie Wonder had conceived as a way of trying to force legislation to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. At the time, Marley was dying of cancer, so Gil was asked to do the first six dates. He ended up doing all 41. And Dr King's birthday ended up becoming a national holiday ("The Last Holiday because America can't afford to have another national holiday"), but Gil always felt that Stevie never got the recognition he deserved and that his story needed to be told. The first chapters of this book were given to me in New York when Gil was living in the Chelsea Hotel. Among the pages was a chapter called Deadline that recounts the night they played Oakland, California, 8 December; it was also the night that John Lennon was murdered. |
Gil uses Lennon's violent end as
a brilliant parallel to Dr King's assassination and
as a biting commentary on the constraints that
sometimes lead to newspapers getting things wrong.
—J amie Byng, Guardian
Gil_reads_"Deadline" (audio) / Gil Scott-Heron
& His Music Gil Scott
Heron Blue Collar
Remember Gil Scott- Heron
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Forged: Writing in the Name of God
Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are
By Bart D. Ehrman
The evocative title tells it all and hints at the tone of sensationalism that pervades this book. Those familiar with the earlier work of Ehrman, a distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and author of more than 20 books including Misquoting Jesus, will not be surprised at the content of this one. Written in a manner accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman argues that many books of the New Testament are not simply written by people other than the ones to whom they are attributed, but that they are deliberate forgeries. The word itself connotes scandal and crime, and it appears on nearly every page. Indeed, this book takes on an idea widely accepted by biblical scholars: that writing in someone else's name was common practice and perfectly okay in ancient times. Ehrman argues that it was not even then considered acceptable—hence, a forgery.
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While many readers may wish
for more evidence of the charge, Ehrman's introduction to the arguments and debates among different religious communities during the first few centuries and among the early Christians themselves, though not the book's main point, is especially valuable.—Publishers Weekly /
Forged Bart Ehrman’s New Salvo (Witherington)
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1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus
Created
By Charles C. Mann
I’m
a big fan of Charles Mann’s previous
book
1491:
New Revelations of the Americas Before
Columbus, in which he
provides a sweeping and provocative
examination of North and South America
prior to the arrival of Christopher
Columbus. It’s exhaustively researched
but so wonderfully written that it’s
anything but exhausting to read. With
his follow-up,
1493, Mann has taken it to a
new, truly global level. Building on the
groundbreaking work of Alfred Crosby
(author of
The Columbian Exchange and, I’m
proud to say, a fellow Nantucketer),
Mann has written nothing less than the
story of our world: how a planet of what
were once several autonomous continents
is quickly becoming a single,
“globalized” entity.
Mann not only talked to countless
scientists and researchers; he visited
the places he writes about, and as a
consequence, the book has a marvelously
wide-ranging yet personal feel as we
follow Mann from one far-flung corner of
the world to the next. And always, the
prose is masterful. In telling the
improbable story of how Spanish and
Chinese cultures collided in the
Philippines in the sixteenth century, he
takes us to the island of Mindoro whose
“southern coast consists of a number of
small bays, one next to another like
tooth marks in an apple.” |
We learn how the spread of malaria, the
potato, tobacco, guano, rubber plants, and sugar
cane have disrupted and convulsed the planet and
will continue to do so until we are finally living
on one integrated or at least close-to-integrated
Earth. Whether or not the human instigators of all
this remarkable change will survive the process they
helped to initiate more than five hundred years ago
remains, Mann suggests in this monumental and
revelatory book, an open question.
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
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