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Vashti Murphy McKenzie was elected and consecrated as the 117th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the year 2000, the first time in the 241-year history of the AME church that a woman achieved that office.

She is the founder of Selah Leadership Encounters for Women, a wraparound multi-disciplinary approach to resourcing women who want to level up their spiritual, professional and personal lives. Selah was named by Essence Magazine as one of the top 11 conferences for women to level up.

In 2015, Dr. McKenzie was named as one of the 50 most powerful women religious leaders in the world by the Huffington Post. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, earned a Master of Divinity Degree from Howard University School of Divinity, and later earned a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary.

Dr. McKenzie is the author of six books about the spiritual lifestyle and women’s empowerment, including Not Without a Struggle, which was revised in 2012 and remains a staple at seminaries and schools of religion. Her new book, The Big Deal of Taking Small Steps to Move Close to God is about taking small incremental steps to achieve big results.

Characterized as “an electrifying preacher”, she will continue to preach and teach globally as well as serve as a workshop/seminar instructor for congregations, corporations and a variety of organizations on the topics of women, leadership, spirituality and self-care.

Bishop Dr. Vashti Murphy McKenzie, married to the late Dr. Stan McKenzie, has three adult children and two grandchildren