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Vashti McKenzie, Trailblazer for Women in Ministry, to Receive Union Theological Seminary's Highest Honor



NEW YORK, August 11, 2003 -- Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York will award the Union Medal to Vashti Murphy McKenzie as part of the 168th Convocation ushering in a new academic year at the Seminary. The event, which is open to the public, will take place Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003, at 6:10 p.m. in James Memorial Chapel, at 121st Street and Broadway.

Attendees are asked to R.s.v.p. no later than Sept. 1, 2003, to
212-280-1315. Bishop McKenzie will meet with Union seminarians the following morning for a breakfast conversation.

Long recognized as a trailblazer for women in ministry, Vashti McKenzie is the first woman to be elected Bishop in the African American Episcopal Church, the nation's oldest African American denomination. She is presiding prelate of the 18th Episcopal District, which comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Swaziland in Southern Africa. She is an officer of the AME Church's Council of Bishops.

Reflecting on the choice of Bishop McKenzie as the next Union Medalist, the Rev. Brenda Husson, Rector of St. James' Episcopal Church in New York City and chair of the Union Medal Committee, said: "Bishop McKenzie obviously exemplifies many of Union's highest ideals. Through her groundbreaking and inspirational ministry, she has demonstrated that the church can be relevant
to our contemporary society and its issues and make an important difference in the lives of all people."

Bishop McKenzie has served as pastor for three AME congregations, from small and rural to large and urban. Prior to her election as bishop, she served for ten years as pastor of the 103-year-old Payne Memorial AME Church in Baltimore, Maryland, growing the congregation from 330 to over 1,700, increasing property value from $1.6 to $5.6 million, launching 25 innovative
ministries and instituting and organizing Payne Memorial Outreach, Inc., a million dollar, faith-based non-profit organization.

A poll of national, civic, social, religious and academic leaders selected Bishop McKenzie for an "Honor Roll of Great African-American Preachers," featured in the November 1993 issue of Ebony Magazine. In November 1997, she was listed as one of "Ebony's 15 Greatest African American Female Preachers." She is National Chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Union Medalists "include people engaged in works of ministry in
congregations, in public service, in government, in private realms of business, in the professions, in education, in the arts-indeed in any place where individuals are making an important difference that is congruent with Union's high purposes of faith and service." Their ranks have included: Andrew Young, George Kennan, Gardner Taylor, Kurt Masur, Kim Dae-Jung, Marian Wright Edelman, William Sloane Coffin and others.

Union Theological Seminary, founded in 1836, is an independent, ecumenical graduate school of theology with the mission to educate men and women for ministries in the Christian faith, service in contemporary society, and study of the great issues of our time. The Seminary believes that the city remains a critical training ground for facing such issues.