Rev. Sheila M. Beckford
Home Church Address:
260 Quincy St, Brooklyn, NY 11216Website:
Preacher Bio:
The Rev. Sheila M. Beckford hails from "BedStuy" Brooklyn, NY, where she currently serves as the Senior Pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Drew Theological School in 2006.
Rev. Beckford is an Ordained Elder of the New York Annual Conference, author, and Co-Founder of 4REALS Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Training and Consulting, LLC.
Rev. Sheila M. Beckford, a cradle Methodist, is an Elder in the New York Annual Conference. Her deep roots in the life of the conference go back to her bake sales at Newman Memorial as a child, ushering, and Page Coordinator. Rev. Beckford has served on DCOM (District Committee of Ordained Ministry) as a Cluster Leader, Dance Coordinator for the New York Annual Conference, and co-founder of New Day Church, located in Bronx, NY.
For the past five years, Rev. Beckford has served as Chair of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, an organization that advocates for justice in the Global Connection, especially concerning Black people and those of the African Diaspora. She also chairs the New York Annual Conference's Committee on Religion and Race, seeking equity for all of God's Children. Her work has been published in various publications. Rev. Beckford's most recent (co-authored) published works are Anti-Racism 4Reals: Real Talk with Real Strategies in Real Time for Real Change, released in October 2021, and Doing Anti-Racist Business: Dislodging and Dismantling, released February 2023.
She is a talented dancer who uses her gift of dance as a powerful instrument to minister to God's people. Her passion is justice, worship, dance, youth, and children. She is the mother of a 9-year-old brilliant and talented daughter. She believes, "How one treat worship, God's children, and God's creation, on the whole, is indicative of how one treats God." Rev. Beckford loves God and uses every God-given instrument to display this love.