Join the celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through praise and worship featuring the Eastern Mennonite University Gospel Choir and Meechy Jay.

Rev. Dr. Chinita Richardson, Pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Harrisonburg)

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Chinita Richardson, born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, the oldest of four children of Aurelia LeBlanc, attended Holy Family Catholic High School where she graduated in 1983. After graduation she attended Lawson State College in Birmingham, Alabama in the daytime and Miles College School in the evenings to pursue a degree in pre teaching and law. She graduated from Lawson State College in 1999 receiving a degree in Pre Teaching. She graduated with a degree in English from the New York
Institute of Technology, and continued her education with Liberty Theological Seminary where she completed a Master of Arts in Theological Studies a Master’s of Divinity with a concentration in Professional Ministries and a Master of Arts in Teaching with an Endorsement in Special Education she is currently pursing a Doctorate in Ministry at Liberty University. Dr. Richardson received her Ph.D. in Leadership and Higher
Education from Northcentral University.

Chinita Richardson devoted eight  years to teaching Literature and Music Theory to high school students in the inner city school system of Birmingham, Alabama where her focus was the diamonds in the rough. It was her mission to concentrate on the children who had problems learning and make them success stories. She was part of a school that became a magnet school as a result of hard work and perseverance with and for the
students.

In December of 2001 Ms. Richardson moved to Columbus, Georgia. She worked as a Media Specialist Assistant and in Special Education at the Chattahoochee County Educational Center for grades K-5. She also gave service for 13 years to the private practice law firm of the Honorable Mary A. Buckner, P.C. located in the historic district where she was the Senior Paralegal for real estate, probate and bankruptcy courts. She is
a member of the Georgia Alliance of African American Attorneys, and she was appointed chairman of the Pro Bono Committee of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers.
Her goal as the chairman for this committee was to insure that all indigent persons have the right to an attorney even though they could not afford to pay the cost for representation. She was also an adjunct professor of English and Religion at Georgia Military College where she taught adults returning back to college seeking a second career. She is currently in Special Education providing tier 3 evidence-based interventions during problem-solving course of action with counselors, the Response to Intervention team and general education teachers in Washington, DC.

Chinita Richardson’s community involvements include being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Gamma Tau Omega Graduate Chapter of Columbus, Georgia and a devout former member of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a former member of the choir, a former member of the Steward Board; she is a former member of the Starlighters, a group that helped raise seed money throughout the year to financially fill in the gaps to
help sustain the church’s function in benevolence and missions. She has served in the kitchen at St. John AME where on a few occasions she delivered the leftover food from the programs to the local Salvation Army located in Columbus, Georgia. She was also the former President of the Southwest Georgia Central District Lay Organization where she served 23 churches for a number of years until her ordination as an Itinerant Deacon of the African Methodist Episcopal church. She established a Scholarship program for the Central District Lay organization that continues to helped college students with books and supplies for college. She is the former Senior Pastor for Tabernacle AME Church where she established a food ministry for those who had trouble extending their food stamps to the end of the month. She established the media ministry that reached over 500
people throughout the world via Youtube, Facebook, CD’s and DVD’s. She was affiliated with the Daughters of St. John and the Liturgical Dance Team where she started a ministry to teach young sisters in Christ how to be Bold and Beautiful women for Christ. She is the chairman of the Columbus Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and a Silver member of the NAACP, ACLU and former member of the AmVets Ladies Auxiliary. She received an award from the ACLU for her continued fight
against discrimination of African Americans and women. She also owns and operates Sheena’s Travels, LLC, a home-based travel agency booking travel for families and groups of all ages and the founder of Hands of CARES, a community action re-entry service support program for ex-offenders transitioning back to society. She is currently the Senior Pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia where the Spirit of the Lord is…..there is Liberty! Chinita Richardson attributes her success to her strong family and religious background. She has 3 adopted children Jason, Jonathan and Kristina, one son-in law, Charles “Kendo” Mitchell and 3 grandchildren, Jahki, Kayani and Kyleah. Her advice to others and especially to young people is that a person can achieve any goal with hard work, dedication, perseverance and commitment. Shoot for the stars!!