Preston Warren Williams II

1939(?)—

Clergyman

The Right Rev. Preston Warren Williams II became president in 2006 of the global Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.). His election put the capstone on a long career marked by a wide variety of pastoral experiences, including a stint in Africa, and by the promotion of activist social programs on a large scale. "I think all of South Carolina celebrates the bishop's election," the Rev. Joe Darby, pastor at Morris Brown A.M.E. Church in Charleston, told the Columbia State. "As a bishop who still has, I believe, a pastor's heart and who knows the church as well as anyone on the bench, he would be eminently qualified to serve as chairman."

Williams was born in the tiny southern Georgia town of Willacoochee around 1939. He attended A.M.E.-affiliated Morris Brown College on Atlanta's west side, the first of a series of five institutions at which he broadened his education. He went on to Southeastern University in Washington, D.C., returned to Atlanta for a master of divinity degree from the A.M.E.'s Turner Theological Seminary (part of the Interdenominational Theological Center), and earned a doctorate from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. He also attended the Yale Divinity School.

Williams married the former Wilma Delores Webb of Leeds, Alabama, and they have raised four children: Arnold Andre, a physicist; twin daughters Wilma Priscilla, a chemist, and Stella Jacinta, a geologist; and Prestina Delores, a television news anchor and reporter.

Williams served during his early career at churches around Georgia, including Paradise A.M.E. Church in Jefferson, St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Athens, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Augusta, and St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Atlanta. At each of those posts, his official A.M.E. biography notes, he "invariably led his congregations in the purchase of land, the renovation and construction of new facilities, and the expansion of church membership and ministry deep into the heart of the community." In 1976 he was part of the Inaugural Committee for a fellow south Georgian, President Jimmy Carter. Much of Williams's career was spent in Atlanta, where he was pastor of St. Paul's A.M.E. Church for 16 years. During that time, his energetic fund-raising efforts led to the construction of a new Family Life Center and a 33-unit apartment complex used to house homeless mothers and their children.

As is true for many African-American ministers, even in larger churches, Williams worked outside his ministry as well. He owned and operated an Atlanta insurance agency, teaming with local medical providers to offer financial support for health care in the surrounding community. Williams put his financial expertise to work in service of the church, serving as treasurer of the A.M.E. Church's 6th Episcopal District, encompassing the state of Georgia. He served on the board of Turner Theological Seminary and worked as its comptroller of finance for a time. Under his financial leadership, the school constructed a new administration office and student dormitory at a cost of about $2 million. Williams was also a member of the Atlanta Board of Education for 19 years, serving as chairman of the finance committee, vice president, and eventually president.

In 1997 Williams was honored as a State of Georgia Distinguished Churchman. By the late 1990s he was serving as Senior Pastor at Atlanta's Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, and working with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development on the renovation of more than 600 Atlanta-area apartment units. In 2000, he was consecrated as the 119th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, making him part of a very select group of leaders& mdash;the church had been founded in 1787 by Richard Allen, a minister and former slave. His first posting took him away from familiar surroundings in Atlanta to central Africa, where he presided over the A.M.E.'s 17th Episcopal District. There he oversaw the rapidly growing church in several countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Malawi. Once again he oversaw a large increase in membership, from 150,000 to 250,000, and part of the 17th District was split off to form a new 20th District. He promoted the status of native-born African leaders within the church and organized a new African Jurisdictional Council to address the issue of African representation.

Back in the United States, Williams was appointed in July of 2004 as Presiding Prelate of the A.M.E.'s 7th Episcopal District, covering most of the state of South Carolina. During his first year, he visited 552 of the state's 600 A.M.E. churches and broadened the church's social mission, cooperating with the South Carolina Department of Social Services to provide free lunches for disadvantaged South Carolina schoolchildren. Looking forward to the 2008 election, the politically powerful Williams found himself courted by presidential candidates seeking his endorsement, but South Carolina politician James Felder told Carolyn Click of the State that "[h]e's a cautious kind of fellow. He has not blessed anybody as of yet."

With his wide background working in his favor, Williams was chosen in 2006 as president of the A.M.E. Council of Bishops. In that position, which ran for one year, he led a 35-member worldwide council, ministering ultimately to 2.3 million A.M.E. church members in the United States, and more than three million around the world. "Wherever humankind is, that's where the church should be," he said (as quoted in a South Carolina Black News report that appeared on the SC Source website). "I was called to do what I'm doing, that is to lift humanity wherever I can, and this is the call for the church, to do that."

Continuing in his 7th District post, he used his position to emphasize the themes of social activism on which his ministry had always focused. "Our people understand it's the whole person," he told the district's Palmetto Annual Conference in Charleston (according to Adam Parker of the Charleston Post and Courier);. "How can I present Christ to a hungry child? How can I talk to a mother who's sick and dying with no insurance? How can I minister to her at that hour of need?" "The AME Church really enjoys its role in leading people holistically," he added. "We believe in ministering to mind, body and soul."

At a Glance …

Born 1939(?) in Willacoochee, GA; married Wilma Delores Webb of Leeds, AL; children: Arnold Andre, Wilma Priscilla, and Stella Jacinta, Prestina Delores. Education: Attended Morris Brown College, Atlanta; Southeastern University, Washington, D.C., BS; Turner Theological Seminary, Atlanta, MDiv; Yale University Divinity School; Wesley Theological Seminary, American University, DD. Religion: African Methodist Episcopal.

Career: Minister: Paradise A.M.E. Church, Jefferson, GA; St. Mark A.M.E. Church, Athens, GA; Bethel A.M.E. Church, Augusta, GA; Trinity A.M.E. Church., St. Mark A.M.E. Church, Atlanta, GA; insurance agency, Atlanta, owner; Atlanta Board of Education, elected member, vice president, and president; Bishop of A.M.E Church, 2000; A.M.E. 17th Episcopal District, central Africa, presiding bishop, 2000-04; A.M.E. 7th Episcopal District, South Carolina, presiding bishop, 2004-; A.M.E. Council of Bishops, president, 2006-07.

Selected memberships: NAACP, Free and Accepted Masons, Urban League, Democratic Party.

Selected awards: Distinguished Churchman of the State of Georgia, 1997; honorary degrees: Daniel Payne College (Birmingham AL), Lee Theological Seminary (Jacksonville, FL), Doctor of Humane Letters, Morris Brown College (Atlanta), Turner Theological Seminary (Atlanta), and Jackson Seminary (Little Rock, Arkansas).

Addresses: Office—7th District AME Office, 110 Pisgah Church Road, Columbia, SC 29203.

Sources

Periodicals

Jet, May 15, 2006, p. 40.

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), August 26, 2007, p. 1.

State (Columbia, SC), April 21, 2006; June 27, 2006.

On-line

"Bishop & Mrs. Preston Warren Williams, II: Lives That Teach," Christian Recorder,http://www.the-christian-recorder.org/tcr-online/2006/04/christian-recorderonline-english.html (September 28, 2007).

"Bishop Preston Warren Williams II," 7th Episcopal District, A.M.E. Church,http://www.ame7.org/bio_bishop.asp (September 28, 2007).

"Preston Warren Williams II," AME Church Information and Historical Biographies,http://www.ghg.net/jlpayne/bishops.html#Williams (September 28, 2007).

"Preston Warren Williams II Affirmed as New President of African Methodist Episcopal Church," SC Source, http://scsource.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=894 (September 28, 2007).