Rev Dr Sheila McKeithen honoured at Black Women in Ministry Awards & Gala

Reverend Sheila McKeithen, senior minister of the Universal Centre of Truth for Better Living (UC Truth) and president of the Universal Foundation for Better Living, was among 300 women faith leaders recognised at the Unsung She-roes Awards ad Gala at the National Press Club in Washington DC recently.

Reverend McKeithen was honoured among 20 outstanding ‘she-roes’ from around the world, including Jamaica and South Africa. The initiative is part of an unprecedented effort to mentor emerging black female clergy taking the reins of the almost exclusively male-led religious sector. The gala celebrated black women who have been providing spiritual leadership to communities for over 10 years.

The event was hosted by President Barack Obama’s appointee, Reverend Dr Suzan D. Johnson Cook, the first woman and African American to be ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. Dr Cook was also the first woman president of the legendary Hampton Ministers’ Conference, a major association of black clergy, denominations, and institutions. Now in her 40th year of ordained ministry, Ambassador Cook has dedicated this season of her work “not to retiring, but to inspiring”.

Among the honorees are Turner Theological Seminary of Atlanta’s first African American female president, Dr Ammie L. Davis, the first black woman to lead a Baptist mission’s agency; Dr Gina Stewart, and the first lady of the 1.3 million-member Full Gospel Movement, Elder Debra Morton.

The event was organised by the Women on the WorldStage, an organisation which fosters the advancement and placement of black women in the ministry through the REAL Black Women in Ministry THRIVE Initiative.

The Universal Centre of Truth is a vibrant and welcoming Bible-based New Thought Christian Church in Kingston, Jamaica. UC Truth espouses the abundant living, inclusive and love-based message of Jesus Christ in practical ways that empower all people desiring to consciously connect with the God within them and live from their God-given and divine potential.

The local church, led by Reverend McKeithen, was founded in September 1994 by Avis Hylton, Cynthia Crooks, Rose Dundas, Norma Eaton, Eileen Henry, Lisa Holt-Lawrence, Peter Hylton, Roy Hylton, Beverly Manley, Angela Melhado, Hyacinth Sherlock, and Hazel Sterling. UC Truth meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m.