The Reverend Dr. Claudette A. Copeland "...is simply, a woman of strength and dignity.  When she speaks, her words are wise and kindness is the rule for everything she says." Proverbs 31:25-26 TLB

 

As a teen, Claudette was doomed to be swallowed up in the draw and dysfunction of the streets. Through the witness of a high school friend, she encountered of the saving, transforming power of Jesus Christ and received Him as her Savior.  She was groomed in the Church of God in Christ, in Buffalo, New York, where her foundations were set. Here she fully embraced the tenets of the Christian faith, the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit; and learned the necessity of a life consistent with the scriptures.  And, it was here that she first heard the Spirit's call.  She was licensed as an evangelist at age 18; ordained at 27 and has served the Lord in full time ministry all her adult life.

 

Pastor Copeland has earned the following degrees; Bachelor of Arts, The University of Connecticut (Psychology) Master of Divinity, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Pastoral Care and Counseling) Suma Cum Laude; trained in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE); Doctorate of Ministry, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio; and Post Doctoral Certificate, Homiletics at Oxford University, U.K.

 

Reverend Copeland has served in a variety of ministry settings, including the Hospital Chaplaincy, the Mission Field (in Haiti, South Africa, West Africa and East Africa) and is a former member of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. She also served for several years as a visiting Professor and Mentor for Doctoral Studies at her alma mater in Ohio.

  

Dr. Copeland’s work has been published in the African American Devotional Bible (Zondervan); and in the African American Pulpit (Judson Press), where she has served as a board member and contributing writer.  She is the author of: Coming Through the Darkness: Cancer & One Woman’s Journey To Wholeness (Red Nail Press), along with the companion prayer journal, Coming Through and Stories from Inner Space: Confessions of a Preacher Woman and other Tales (Red Nail Press).  Her musical CD entitled, There’s Never Been a Time features an engaging cross section of sacred music styles.  Her literary contribution is included in This Is My Story: Testimonies and Sermons of Black Women in Ministry, published by John Knox Press, 2005.

 

Reverend Copeland is the founder of Claudette Copeland Ministries (Destiny Ministries of San Antonio, Texas) a national empowerment group for women. She has been featured in many journals and magazines, including Gospel Today, Essence Magazine, Faith Magazine; and in Ebony Magazine as one of the 15 notable women preachers in the nation. Dr. Copeland was included in the Smithsonian Institute Exhibit: “Speak to My Heart”, Communities of Faith and Contemporary African American Lives. (Anacostia Museum)  She made history as the first woman to offer the keynote address to the National MLK, Jr. Commemorative March in a major urban venue, addressing over 80,000 persons in San Antonio for this great event (2004).

 

Dr. Copeland is a founding co-convener of the Women in Ministry Training Conference, (Atlanta,GA 2006), serving aspiring and active women ministers in all seasons of their journey. Her grounded life, her broad scope of the Biblical texts, and her in-depth sensitivity to the human condition keep her in demand as a preacher, teacher, workshop leader and consultant to Pastors and Church Leaders in the Body of Christ.

 

She is a contented and wonderfully cared for wife, married to the Bishop David Michael Copeland since the age of 21. Together they have built a life and a great ministry. She serves with her husband as Executive Pastor of the New Creation Christian Fellowship Church, a thriving non-denominational and multi-faceted ministry just outside San Antonio, Texas (Windcrest). This is the mother church of the Kingdom Council of Interdependent Christian Churches and Ministries.