Bishop Allyson Abrams is a beacon of light for the LGBTQ Christians in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland area. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Howard University. She was attending Miles Law School when she accepted her call to ministry. She received her Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary in 2000 and received her Doctor of Ministry from United Seminary with a focus on Worship in 2005. Abrams started her climb when she became the youngest female to be voted in by a congregation, as senior pastor, in any Black Baptist Church in Detroit. Then one Sunday morning, she found herself straying away from her usual sermon to talk about God’s love and share her truths with her congregation. She shocked them with the announcement of her marriage to fellow Bishop Diana Williams.
Shortly after, Abrams found herself resigning from her church of seven years. In the face of losing family and her congregation; with fellow clergy beginning to dissociate, contracts being lost or not renewed, Abrams did not hesitate. She remained strong in her faith and followed her path to Maryland.
In May 2014, Abrams founded Empowerment Liberation Cathedral (ELC). The church is a welcoming, affirming and radically inclusive, LGBTQIA celebrated congregation. ELC welcomes “all God’s children no matter your gender, race, age, sexual orientation, identification, handicap, or former faith background.”
Abrams’s fiery sermons and conviction to her growing church has not gone unnoticed. In 2015, Washington Blade’s Best of Gay DC; Bishop Abrams won Best Clergy and ELC won Best House of Worship.
Abrams talks of the inter-sectional point between sexuality and religion. “This is how you were created. You have a right to be loved and be free to love the way God created you to love.” She urges, “Get an understanding of what God and the Bible says on same-sex.”
Join Bishop Allyson Abrams and Empowerment Liberation Cathedral this holiday season for their Christmas program on December 20. Look out for their upcoming Dr. Martin Luther King Sunday service on January 17 and their special Stud Sunday on February 21.
SERVICE TIME: Sundays 1:00pm EST. at 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 (Ascension Church)
Empowement Liberation Cathedral Worship Streams Live on Sundays at 1:25pm EST on www.livestream.com (search Bishop Abrams). Worship service recordings will be on Empowerment Liberation Cathedral YouTube Channel within 24 hours of the worship. Also broadcast the service on ibroadcast.tv within 24 hours after services are over.
