Dr. Paulette Coleman: Former 2nd Episcopal District Lay President

​Dr. Paulette Coleman Former 2nd Episcopal District Lay President Paulette Coleman is a fourth generation AME, with her spiritual roots in Corpus Christi, Texas, the 10th Episcopal District.  As a 12-year-old she committed her life […]

Dr. Paulette Coleman
Former 2nd Episcopal District Lay President

Paulette Coleman is a fourth generation AME, with her spiritual roots in Corpus Christi, Texas, the 10th Episcopal District.  As a 12-year-old she committed her life to Christ and Christian service.

She has served on the local level as a trustee, steward, lay organization president, choir member, Sunday School teacher, organizer of New Life Ministries, Social Action Commission chair, facilitator of the Lee Chapel Literary Club.  Dr. Coleman also served on the founding boards of two AME church-affiliated independent schools:  Bethel Christian School (Baltimore, MD) and St. James Preparatory Academy (Newark, NJ)

Paulette was the first woman elected President of the Second Episcopal District Lay Organization.  She presented workshops, seminars, and keynote addresses throughout the five conferences of the Second District and focused on assistance to smaller churches

At the connectional level she was elected Third Vice President Dr. Coleman developed and wrote the 1987, 1989, and 1991 editions of the lay study guide. Dr. Coleman was also the general editor for the 2004 supplement, the 2010 edition, and 2015 edition of the Lay Study Guide. From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Coleman was the co-chair of the centennial celebration of the Connectional Lay Organization and curated special events in Detroit, MI; Lusaka, Zambia; and Nashville, TN.

In 1992, Dr. Coleman was elected the twelfth editor of the AME Church Review, a scholarly religious journal, continuously published since 1884.  She served in that position for eight years and retired following the merger of six departments into three.

A community leader and Certified Mediator, Dr. Coleman was appointed to state boards and commissions that empower women, girls, and their families and those that promote arts programs to transform lives and build communities. She was privileged to serve as the operations director to Dr. Dorothy I. Height for a delegation of 30 international women leaders to the UN Decade Conference for Women in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985.  In 1995 she was accredited as a journalist to the UN Decade Conference for Women in Beijing, China.

Dr. Coleman received her BA from Fordham University (NYC) and her Ph.D from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). She has done additional graduate studies at universities in Great Britain and France.

Dr. Coleman’s heart’s desire is to live a life that honors God; uplifts humanity; and expands the ministry of the laity as directed by the Holy Spirit.

From the CLO Office of the Historiographer