“Sisters Walking In Boldness & Blessings”

The Reverend Doctor Erika D. Crawford heard her call to preach at the age of twenty-one and answered at the age of twenty-three, preaching her initial sermon at Reid Chapel AME Church in Columbia, SC (7th Episcopal District). After completing her undergraduate studies in Organizational Management at Voorhees College in Denmark, SC, Rev. Dr. Crawford went on to receive a Master of Divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary (New York, NY), a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Fordham University (Bronx, NY) and postgraduate work at Regent’s Park College at Oxford University (Oxford, UK).

Over the course of more than 20 years of ministry, she is blessed to have served in a variety of ministerial capacities including Pastor of Allen Temple AME Church of Mt. Vernon, NY and African Methodist Episcopal Ebenezer Church of Rahway, NJ; Coordinator of Ecumenical and Interfaith Ministry for Fordham University; Team Chaplain for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) New York
Liberty; and Director of the Pastoral Care Department at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway, NJ. 
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Dr. Crawford led all of her congregations in debt liquidation, renovations, and property acquisition, including the financing of a house of worship for Ebenezer AME Church in Malawi, Africa (20th Episcopal District). In her first 5 years at Mt Zion, she led the congregation in more than $200,000 in renovations, rezoning of all church properties, acquisition of new properties, and the establishment of several new
ministries including the Impact Grant – which selects families with children in the community to sow into financially, spiritually, and educationally.

She is the Connectional (International) President of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Women In Ministry (AME/WIM) with a membership of more than 4000 clergywomen; she is a member of the Pan-Methodist Commission; a co-founder and convener of High Heels Seeking Higher Ground Women’s Retreat Ministry; a life member of the NAACP; co-founder of The ToolShed Community a forum for racial dialogue, a member of the Trauma Delaware Resilience Working Group, Member of the Board of Directors for Self-Help, Inc., Member of The Village a community
education support group, Director of Stewardship for the First Episcopal District of the AME Church as well as a number of other leadership positions in the AME Church and community.