McKenzie’s initial ministry focused on the Baltimore area. It was a minmistry that tended to more than just the souls of the congregants.

“I pastored in Baltimore in what we call the Urban Core,” McKenzie said. “I also pastored in the rural setting in Cecil County, Maryland before in my Methodist tradition where we are bishop-appointed and being appointed to two congregations in Baltimore and finally my last place, which was Payne Memorial AME Church where the Lord blessed us and we grew to over 1,700 members. We purchased a five-story, 52,000 sq. ft. building that had been vacated by its owners and we bought it from the bank. We put in 25 ministries. We already had outreach ministries. But we didn’t have the space for it. And so this high-rise gave us an opportunity to have space. We had a Head Start and later on a senior adult daycare center and an incubator for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs in the community. That was really exciting. We bought two buildings. That was one and the other was a two-story office building where we put some other ministries in. And it had a banquet hall so that we could have a place where all of our folk could eat. And a place where we could help the community.”

McKenzie’s ministry caught the attention of the powers that be in the AME church and in 2000, she was elected the first female AME bishop by AME representatives from around the world. And she served far and wide.

“I served four years in Africa, in the Southeastern region,” McKenzie said. “I served in two districts in the United States. People ask, ‘What does that mean?’ Well if you take a look at the mayor for being responsible for one city, that would be the pastor. The bishop has responsibility for all of the cities that are in the state. A bishop would be responsible for all of the churches that are in their particular district.”

In some ways, the bishop is the chair of the board to the pastor as CEO. While the pastor is taking care of the day-to-day operation and health of the church, the bishop is looking at the bigger picture.

“It is fulfilling to be able to shepherd congregations, be co-partners with the pastors — not interfering with the pastor of course — looking out for the interests of the larger body,” McKenzie said. “So the bishop looks to the big picture items. We are looking towards the horizon to be able to see down the road a little bit further. Pastors tend to be worried about ground-level items, manage what they have and keep on track with what they have and of course preach and take care of the people. The bishop is looking further down the road. ‘How can I help our congregation survive? How do we prepare our congregations as we move into a new season in the country? How do we help people with excitement as well as disappointment, with chaos as well as community? How do we equip our pastors to preach with clarity to help people move through this season?’ The bishops are looking at the big picture items.”

McKenzie wasn’t ambitious in terms of wanting to be and maneuvering to become the first woman bishop. She was always answering the call and went to wherever it led her.

“I broke the glass ceilings because I was following my ministry,” McKenzie said. “Bishop was not on my mind. It was not a goal. All I wanted to be was two things: the best preacher I could be and the best pastor I could be. If I could do that, I would be good. I believe that the call to the Episcopacy is similar to the call to the pastorate. The call to the Episcopacy, you don’t offer yourself to run in an election unless, I believe, it’s God’s will. This is something that God wants you to do. And the Lord has been preparing you over the life of your ministry, 25 years of ministry, to be able to handle this position.”

After she retired, McKenzie was called again, this time to lead the National Council of Churches in Christ.

“I was invited to the table of the National Council of Churches in Christ at the beginning of 2022,” McKenzie said. “My predecessor had retired and they were looking for someone to take on the reins to engage in some, let’s say, change agency, which is what I do. It’s part of my ministry portfolio, so to say, to take a look at some foundational things, to accentuate and continue the great things they are doing, but also see what else needed to be added to the mix. And so I cam in under an interim position and then in 2023, they elected me to the position.”

Heading the National Council of Churches was an opportunity to provide spiritual leadership in a time of a great social and political divide in the United States because the National Council reflects the diversity of the country.

“I saw it as an extension of ministry,” McKenzie said. “I’ve been engaged in social justice all of my life basically. And so this was an opportunity to provide executive leadership to an ecumenical body. This is an opportunity, especially at this particular time in a very divisive country, that we can perhaps provide a table of transformation, an opportunity for groups who may not agree with each other or see each other eye-to-eye to be able to come together and see if we can explore some common ground. We advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.”

And the call of unity springs from the New Testament.

“You can call it a philosophical approach to it, but it is also a manifestation of God’s will,” McKenzie said. “And the Gospel of John says, ‘Jesus prays so that we all may be one.’ Being one doesn’t mean that we clone each other, that we are just like each other. It means that we can be one in the spirit, One Lord, One Case, One Baptism. Often in the scriptures, it talks about we are one body with many parts. We are one body with Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterian, Lutheran and so forth and so on. If one suffers, we all suffer. If one rejoices, we all rejoice. Each body has a part to play. And in the Kingdom, everyone has a part to play. So it’s also a manifestation about scripture and our biblical base.”

It is this sense of oneness and the spirit of nonviolence that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held firm to during the Civil Rights Movement that turned the tide for justice. And it is these same beliefs and values that can turn the tide today.

“We know that Love Your Enemy comes from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospels where Jesus says, ‘You have heard it this way before,’” McKenzie said. “’But I say onto you, love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ It goes on to say, ‘You’ve heard Thou Shall Not Murder, but if you hate your brother, it’s the same thing.’ That’s where this comes from, loving your neighbor. And so how do we love our neighbor? Scripture says, ‘As you love yourself.’ Do you hate yourself? Do you abuse yourself? As I love me, I’m supposed to love you. That’s like the Golden Rule. ‘Do onto others as you would have then do onto you.’ It’s the same thing. So the core of Dr. King’s message is movement. The core part of this man — remember he’s a human being — was the non-violent process. He took pieces of Mahatma Gandhi and he took pieces of Reinhold Niebuhr and saw the similarities from the gospel message into what they have established. Fighting fire with fire creates more fire. Violence begets more violence. A violent response creates new victims. The non-violent approach — I’m going to love my neighbor. I’m not going to do violence to my neighbor as I express my position — is one of justice and righteousness.”

And the nonviolence isn’t a tool to achieve social justice. It’s a way of life, an approach to the world.

“You don’t just wake up in the morning and say, ‘I’m going to be non-violent’” McKenzie said. “It has to be taught. It has to be trained. And a part of that is non-violence isn’t for wimps. You have to be strong to hold your temper. You have to be strong to not lash out. It’s not for people who don’t have that strength and constitution to be able to hold it in. But it worked. It worked. And so people were able to see the injustices in a new way as you saw a group of people and King embody this value. King said, ‘History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.’ It was really a keystone for him, for the non-violence practice that people had workshops and people were trained and people went in knowing that they had to hold their temper and that the dogs may come out. The hoses would come out and people would try to do violence. But at the end of the day, King said, ‘Bullets and guns, dogs and tear gas, there is still more work that needs to be done. The problem has not been solved. Freedom is only a bud and has yet to unfold.’”

And at the core of social justice is the concept that racism is about more than misunderstanding. It’s about having a position of advantage over other human beings.

“There is a scholar who said, ‘Perhaps we may be approaching racism from the wrong angle,’” McKenzie said. “The premise of his argument is that if racism is based on fear, doubt and I just don’t understand and know the other party. They don’t look like me or act like me. I just don’t understand., then all you need is sensitivity training, expose different groups of people to each other. ‘Oh, okay. I get it. We can talk. We may be able to build a relationship. We may be able to identify some common ground among us.’ But he said, ‘If racism is based on an advantage principle, then holding hands and singing Kumbaya isn’t going to work.’ So we have to look at it. Is racism based on fear and doubt? Or is it actually based on an advantage principle? I want an advantage over my neighbor. It has nothing to do with fear. It has nothing to do with doubt. I want to be the head. I want to be in charge of my neighbor. And in order to do that, I have to make you a subhuman. And if I see you as three-fifths of a man or woman, if I see you has subhuman, then my conscience will allow me to do these terrible things to you and get away with it.’”

It is not only the recognition of each other’s humanity that is important, but also a recognition of human dynamics that serve to impede real social justice. And Bishop Vashti McKenzie is leading the way to that space of real social justice for all.