Bishop McKenzie To Lead National Council of Churches

National Council of Churches Announce Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie As Interim President And General Secretary To Lead An Organization With 100,000 Congregations

This story first appeared in the Afro.

On April 1, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie was acting in the role as Interim President and General Secretary for the National Council of Churches in the USA (NCC). The governing board of the NCC officially appointed Bishop McKenzie to serve this two-year term.

In this role, Bishop McKenzie will provide executive leadership to a diverse covenant community of 37-member communions with 30 million Christians and 100,000 congregations from Protestant, Anglican, historic African American, Orthodox, Evangelical and Living Peace traditions which have a common commitment to advocate and represent God’s love and unity in the public square. Since 1950, the National Council of Churches has worked in a common expression of God’s love and promise of unity. She is the third woman and the first African American woman to serve as General Secretary and the first woman to serve in the combined role of President and General Secretary.

“I am honored to have been invited to serve the National Council of Churches. I look forward to the opportunity to enhance the great work that the NCC has already done and look for strategic ways to amplify its voice. It is critical in this season of divisiveness in our country that we remain vigilant and visible advocates and bridge builders,” Bishop McKenzie said as reported in the Afro-American newspaper.

Mczie is a native of Baltimore and a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, Howard University, School of Religion and has an earned doctorate from United Theological Seminary. The great granddaughter of AFRO Newspaper founder, John H. Murphy, Sr., Bishop McKenzie also serves as the National Chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.