Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie-Presiding Bishop AME 13th District
Bishop McKenzie with her husband and district supervisor Stan McKenzie, were strong supporters of PHEN?s first national Father?s Day Rally in 2010. The churches in the AME 13th district (Kentucky and Tennessee) were among the most active churches nationwide.
Bishop McKenzie received an award at PHEN?s 2010 summit in recognition of her commitment and all-out efforts.
PHEN participated in the 2011 AME Christian Education Conference hosted in Bishop McKenzie?s district and received a commitment that the district will do even more in 2011 with 250 churches participating in the Rally.
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie serves as the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her historic election in the year 2000 represents the first time in the over 200-year history of the A.M.E. Church, in which a woman had obtained that level of Episcopal office. This year, she again made history becoming the first woman to become the Titular Head of the denomination, as the president of the Council of Bishops, making her the highest-ranking woman in the predominately Black Methodist denominations.
She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, holds a Master of Divinity from Howard University School of Divinity and has earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. A poll of national civic, social, religious and academic leaders selected Bishop McKenzie for Ebony Magazine?s ?Honor Roll of Great African American Preachers? in 1993 and again in 1997. She was honored to be named at the top of Ebony?s ?15 Greatest African American Female Preachers?.
