The Right Reverend Preston Warren Williams II
Presiding Prelate of the Seventh Episcopal District
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Bishop Preston Warren Williams II currently serves as the Presiding Prelate of the 7th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (South Carolina). He is Chairman of the Board of Allen University in Columbia, S.C., a member of the governing board of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., and from June 2006 to June 2007 served as President of the Global Council of A.M.E. Bishops.

In July 2000, Bishop Williams was consecrated as the 119th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His first appointment was in Central Africa where he presided over the 17th Episcopal District which encompassed the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), the Congo Brazzaville, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Malawi. Under Bishop Williams’ expert leadership, the 17th District grew from 7 annual conferences to 16, from 24 Presiding Elder Districts to 86 and from 150,000 to 250,000 members with a total of 1,040 churches. This astronomical increase in membership required the 17th District to be split into two separate parts forming a new 20th District.

While in Africa, Bishop Williams continually encouraged both clergy and laity to pursue higher education. He made it possible for many to study in classrooms throughout Central Africa and abroad. Bishop Williams also played a supportive role in both the election of Reverend Paul J. M. Kawimbe as the 121st Bishop of the A.M.E. Church, the first native Zambian to hold that title, as well as the formation of the African Jurisdictional Council which was created to address the issue of indigenous African leadership within the A.M.E. Church.

Following his time in Africa, in July 2004, Bishop Williams was appointed as the Presiding Prelate of the 7th Episcopal District, which encompasses the state of South Carolina. A grass roots preacher, in his first year, he physically visited 552 of the more than 600 A.M.E. churches throughout South Carolina. A lettered theologian, Bishop Williams’ top priority for the ‘New South’ is education. He developed a Christian Education Board which is in the process of producing a Christian Education Curriculum Guide designed to uplift and standardize the theology being taught by all A.M.E. churches statewide.

A spiritual shepherd to millions, in July 2005, Bishop Williams partnered with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice in a collective effort to provide South Carolina’s at-risk youth with support and services designed to maximize their potential as positive and productive members of society. A guardian of all children, throughout the summer of 2005, Bishop Williams’ 7th District of the A.M.E. Church teamed up with the Department of Social Services to provide thousands of underprivileged children throughout South Carolina with a free, daily lunch. A star on the rise, from June 2006 to June 2007, Bishop Williams served as president of the world-wide Council of Bishops, which placed him at the apex of A.M.E. hierarchy.

In 2000, at the time of his election to the Episcopacy, Bishop Williams served as the Senior Pastor of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He partnered with the Housing and Urban Development Authority and Herman J. Russell, Inc. and jointly generated a $15 million dollar renovation of more than 600 apartment units throughout the Atlanta metro area. For 16 years, he served as pastor of St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, where he raised more than a million dollars to renovate the church’s sanctuary, build a Family Life Center and purchase a 33-unit apartment complex for homeless mothers and children.

While at Trinity A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, Bishop Williams’ congregation purchased a million dollar complex which served as additional classroom space for Atlanta’s public schools. Whether at Paradise A.M.E. Church in Jefferson, GA, St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Athens, GA, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Augusta, GA, or St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, GA, Bishop Williams invariably led his congregations in the purchase of land, the renovation and construction of new facilities and the expansion of church membership and ministry deep into the heart of the community.

Bishop Williams is a champion of political and social action, economic empowerment and business development. For 19 years, he served on Atlanta’s Board of Education as President, Vice President, Chairman of the Superintendent Search Committee and Chairman of the Finance Committee where he was involved with the management of a $430 million dollar budget. He served on President Jimmy Carter’s Inaugural Committee and is a member of the NAACP, Free and Accepted Masons and The Urban League.

An experienced statesman, Bishop Williams has acquired over 40 years of entrepreneurial expertise. He owned an insurance agency which partnered with Allied Health Agencies to provide financial support services for the communities in which he lived and worshipped. For eight years, he served as Treasurer of the 6th Episcopal District, which encompasses the state of Georgia. Bishop Williams served as a board member as well as Comptroller of Finance for Turner Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA which, through his financial guidance, built a $2 million dollar administration office and student dormitory. Bishop Williams also served as a member of the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches and in 1997, he was chosen as the State of Georgia’s Distinguished Churchman.

Bishop Williams attended Morris Brown College and Southeastern University and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Turner Theological Seminary Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He also attended the Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut and earned his Doctorate Degree from Wesley Theological Seminary at American University in Washington, D.C. He has received several honorary degrees including: Doctor of Law, Daniel Payne College, Birmingham, Alabama; Doctor of Humane Letters, Lee Theological Seminary, Jacksonville, Florida; Doctor of Humane Letters, Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia; and Doctorate of Divinity, Turner Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia and Jackson Seminary, Little Rock, Arkansas. Bishop Williams is a gifted preacher, teacher, leader, and social activist. He is often sought after for his ability to illuminate Biblical scripture.

Bishop Williams is married to the former Wilma Delores Webb of Leeds, Alabama. They are the immensely proud parents of four children: Arnold Andre, a physicist; twin daughters Wilma Priscilla, a chemist, and Stella Jacinta, a geologist; and Prestina Delores, a television news anchor and reporter.