Posted Date: June 18, 2008

Methodist Minister Accepts Challenge At Historic Church

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

   Although the Rev. Dr. Sherri Daniels went from being a Texas beauty queen to an ordained Methodist minister in the 1980s, the part she liked best was being an advocate.
    Consider the upcoming women’s conference she’s planning for June 20-21 at Norfolk United Methodist Church at 1520 Halstead Ave. It’s titled “Bodacious Women of Faith: Healing, Harmony and Living Victoriously”. It costs $25.
   “We want folks who attend to understand that you can do whatever you want in life,” said Daniels, who two years ago began pastoring the Hampton Roads church which was founded as Zion United Methodist Church in Lambert’s Point in 1896.
   “We’re trying to empower African American women to move past the barriers we often put in our own way,” Daniels explained.
    Whether it’s tolerating domestic abuse, obtaining too-little education, or ignoring community support systems, women who attend the two-day conference will leave knowing how to step past boundaries.
   Several experts will participate in a round table discussion at the conference where 100-125 women are expected to attend .
   “This is the most unique church I’ve ever run across and I’ve dealt with hundreds,” Daniels said of the church which recently relocated to its present site.
   Still, the job is to be an advocate; a pastor who leads the congregation to solve some of the pressing challenges inside and outside of its walls.
   “We have now instituted an after-school program, for example,” Davis said.

“t provides 12-15 volunteer tutors who help youngsters complete homework. There is also a computer lab. And, this summer, 20-30 children will attend summer camp in late August.”
    But Davis also focuses on self-improvement in adults. It’s the topic of many Wednesday night Bible study classes. “A lot of women in our community have gotten away from the faith community,” she said. “But there are components of nurturing in the church that include self-correction.
“In some cases, we have failed to mentor. But we have women in this church who can testify to how their lives are changing. That part of our development is crucial.
   “However, in order to deal with our issues as women, we have to acknowledge them. In a sisterhood-type setting like this conference, we are free to acknowledge our issues. One guest this year is Dr. Lily Jones who will help us use journaling to explore our emotions.”

   But can a two-day church conference cause women to lose heavy, emotional baggage it’s taken some a lifetime to acquire? “We’re trying to scratch the surface,” Davis said. “We’re trying to plant the seed. It’s easier if we do it together.”
    Davis, who served as Miss Texas Southern University in 1984, went on to finish at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta.
“It was very nice but temporary,” she said of her one-year reign as a beauty queen at a major HBCU. “For me it was more about being an advocate for the university.
   “Actually the ministry has always been a part of my life. I’ve always been an advocate.” Whether it was serving years later as a campus minister at her alma mater in Houston, which is also her hometown, or serving for eight years as an administrator in the UMC Texas Conference, she’s held positions that have caused her to blaze trails and open doors that were once closed.

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