Reverend Brenda L. Lewis

Rev. Brenda L. Lewis is a retired elder of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church. Prior to retirement she served Bethany United Methodist Church as Associate Pastor and first African-American Pastor. Rev. Lewis served as pastor of Cokesbury UMC in Abingdon, MD, and The Fallston/Federal Hill Charge in Harford County, MD. She was selected as Assistant Pastor at Reisterstown UMC in Reisterstown, MD, and later as Pastor of Outreach and Social Justice at Newark UMC, Newark, DE, while attending seminar.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Rev. Lewis is the daughter of Rose M. Divers and the late Robert L. Divers, Sr. and oldest of five children. Introduced to God at an early age by her parents, she has been a member of Union Memorial UMC, since 1961. Growing up in Union, Rev. Lewis enjoyed singing on the children’s choir and being involved in Methodist Youth Fellowship. Union Memorial is also where she received Christ as her personal Lord and Savior on May 8, 1990. She delivered her first sermon at Union Memorial on August 16, 1998. It was at this time that she sensed how God wanted to use her. In June 2001, Rev. Lewis answered the Call and said yes to the Lord and ministry.

Rev. Lewis obtained her Associate of Science Degree in Business Administration from the Baltimore City Community College (2005), her Bachelor of Science Degree (Business Administration and Management) from the University of Baltimore (2008), graduating cum laude and her Master of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary (2014).

Pastor Brenda, as she is fondly known, believes there are times when we don’t always understand the awesomeness of God in our lives, especially when our journey takes us on paths that may present themselves as happenstance. However, she believes these are times of God’s divine providence.

One of her greatest joys is being the proud mother of two sons, Steven and Donte, Sr.; grandmother of eight – Donte, Jr., Tijuan, Toni, Saxon, Syon, Sydney, Lazarus and Solomon; and being mom to Jessica Lewis-Owona and Justin Lewis. Rev. Lewis was married to Harry A. Lewis (deceased) for nearly twenty-one years.

While Pastor Brenda does not know what tomorrow holds, she is excited about who holds tomorrow and all the ways in which she will continue to journey with God’s people in mission and ministry. Above all else, in All that she does, she wants to be known as a Child and Humble servant of God!