Reverend Karen L. Washington is a native of the Island of Bermuda. She was formally a member of Richard Allen AME Church, St. George’s, Bermuda. It was there that her grandmother instilled in her the gospel of Jesus Christ, the value of family, the importance of commitment and the love of God. Rev. Washington now resides in Bear, Delaware with her husband Kevin Washington.
Rev. Washington graduated from Delaware State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Business Administration and obtained her Certified Public Accountants license. Rev. Washington is a graduate of the Trinity Bible Institute, School of the Prophets where she received a certificate of completion on prophetic studies and a graduate of Palmer Theological Seminary, where she received her Master of Divinity.
Rev. Washington answered her call from God to itinerate orders and in June 2004 preached her initial sermon. On April 14, 2007, she was ordained an Itinerate Deacon and on March 21, 2010, an Itinerate Elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rev. Washington was formerly on the ministerial staff at Bethel AME Church, Wilmington, Delaware, under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Silvester S. Beaman, where she served as the liaison for the Daughters of Radiance Women’s Ministry, Youth Empowerment School (YES) Program and the spiritual advisor to the Marriage Ministry. On September 13, 2011, she received her first pastoral appointment from Bishop Richard F. Norris as the pastor of Elizabeth AME Church.
At the 2013 Delaware Annual Conference, Rev. Washington on behalf of the officers and members of Elizabeth AME Church requested of the leadership of the First Episcopal District, the Presiding Prelate Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram to change the name of the church to reflect the new direction and vision in which God is leading the church. New Elizabeth AME Church became the new name. The church was rebirthed and now once a dying church, is now healed, restored and growing.
New Elizabeth AME Church affectionately known as “The Church Where Heaven and Earth Meet!” took on a new vision under the leadership of Rev. Washington. Through her leadership New Elizabeth has risen above past challenges and is now a thriving church in the community of Newark, Delaware. Through Rev. Washington’s leadership and the hard work and diligence of the membership, many ministries have been birthed and New Elizabeth is now the second church in the Wilmington District.
Rev. Washington serves on the Board of Examiners, as Director of Stewardship, the Statistician for the Delaware Annual Conference and a member of Women In Ministry of the First District of African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a prolific preacher, teacher, and prayer warrior. The anointing upon her life is evident as she is called on to preach throughout the Tri-State area.
Rev. Washington’s calling is not specific to one state of God’s people. Rev. Washington is called to humble the mighty and to raise the destitute; to empower God’s people through teaching, preaching and by example. Her calling is that of the attributes of the prophet Jeremiah; to root out, pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant; to be a messenger and mouthpiece for God, to God’s people under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit through the preaching and administering of God’s Word.
Rev. Washington attributes her growth and success in ministry to the mentors God has place in her life during her spiritual journey and the power of the Holy Spirit that is living and active in her.
Rev. Karen L. Washington lives each day by the scriptures. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen” (Hebrews 11:1) and “For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). She knows and understands that she is nothing without God and that there is nothing impossible for God. She strongly believes that God is a God of Integrity and a God of His Word! Truly in God she lives, moves, and has her being.