Rev. Felecia Pearson Smith ’74 Only three years after graduating from Wesleyan, Felecia Pearson Smith ’74 became the first African-American woman to earn her master’s degree in divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Her journey into ministry began with the encouragement and mentoring of three Wesleyan professors, Dr. Jacob Quiambao, Dr. Harry Gilmer, and Dr. Walter Brown.
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oday, Lady Felecia, as she is affectionately called by church congregants, serves as administrative director of the Community Church of God in Atlanta where she leads a myriad of ministries hand-in-hand with her husband and senior pastor Michael Smith. Together they personify the church’s mission of being “a real church for real people.” Their church is a body of believers who are working to improve the spiritual, social, and intellectual fabric of their urban setting. Charismatic and brilliant, Felecia is a speaker, instructor, scholar, and community servant. In addition to serving her church, Felecia facilitates women’s conferences and preaches on both local and national levels. In 2009, Felecia launched Metamorphosis Ministries, Inc., her ministry for senior pastors’ wives, the heart of her many outreach activities. Created to provide a nurturing environment for senior pastors’ wives, Metamorphosis Ministries helps each participant find her voice and her own unique path. For several years, Felecia hosted a radio series called “Front Row Conversations,” which she describes as authentic conversations among pastors’ wives and other ministry leaders about emotional and spiritual health. She even hosted one “Front Row Conversation” from the back row conducting an interview with her daughter, Allyson, also a graduate of Emory’s Candler School of Theology. With no holds barred, Allyson humorously described the travails of growing up as a pastor’s child and her ultimate calling to study theology - much like her mom – but with a focus on sexuality and the challenges and needs of young people. In recognition of her many accomplishments and academic achievements, Felecia was selected as an honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. In 2005, she was honored by Emory University as the first black female graduate from the Candler School of Theology and received the inaugural Felecia Pearson Smith Award. In 2010, Felecia was chosen as a fellow in the Black Women Ministerial Leadership Program at the Interdenominational Theological Center. Honored again for her trailblazing spirit in February 2015, she preached during the service of Word and Table to the Candler School of Theology community. This fall, she was a leader at the Southern Interstate Ministries Conference in Houston, Texas. Licensed in 1977, Felecia was ordained in 1985 by the Georgia Ministerial Assembly of the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, but her calling to the ministry is broader than her local church
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and denomination. In 1995, Felecia was appointed to serve as the president/CEO of the Shenango Valley Urban League, Inc., in Farrell, Pennsylvania. During her tenure she improved the organization both programmatically and fiscally. Her career took a dynamic shift in 1998 when she was appointed director of the Bonner Scholars Program, an endowed scholarship program at Spelman College for students who are involved in community service. Under her leadership, the program was expanded and restructured. Subsequently, in 2004 she was appointed director of the new Bonner Office of Community Service and Student Development, a position she held until 2008. Of all her accomplishments and accolades, however, she takes the greatest pleasure in her personal relationship with God and her family. In addition to daughter Allyson, a Spelman graduate, Felecia and Michael have a son Allan, who is a graduate of Morehouse College and Georgia Institute of Technology.