Realizing Ministry Potential

K. Charlene Williams has been ministering to others since she became a Christian at the age of 15. Mentored early on by her uncle Burton Ross, who served as assistant general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Guyana, she stove to lead others to Christ by example. Today, that passion exhibits itself in her multiple roles ranging from co-pastor to women’s ministry director.

“The greatest commission the Lord has given us is to go make disciples,” Williams says. “I take that very seriously.”

Williams has made disciples while serving as Women's Ministries director for the AG’s International Ministries Network. Across the network, she encourages women to fulfill their God-given calling.

“I’m constantly desiring people to find their greatest potential in the kingdom,” says Williams.

As Women’s Ministries director, Williams connects with both female pastors and ministers’ wives. Williams, as a pastor’s wife herself, has particular empathy for the stress of that role.

“They’re carrying the weight spiritually,” Williams says. “Emotionally, they carry a lot of responsibility.” This creates a need for a community where they can be understood, she says.

“They need a platform where they can relate to other women and share some of the burdens and triumphs of ministry,” Williams says.

Williams’ ministry to pastors’ wives has taken her beyond the United States. Recently she spoke in Barbados at a gathering of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies — ministers’ wives from around Caribbean island nations.

“They have some of the challenges as ministers’ wives have in the United States,” Williams notes. But she is encouraged by what she sees as new freedom for the spouses of Pentecostal pastors to express their spiritual giftings.

“There is a great movement allowing ministers wives to come from behind the curtain, to have their voices heard, be respected in the ministry, and have their dreams come alive,” she says.

Williams’ cross-cultural experiences also are reflected in the church she co-pastors with her husband, Darnell Keith Williams Sr. New Life Church International is a multiethnic congregation in Lima, Ohio. Darnell also is executive treasurer of the AG’s National Black Fellowship.

In her newest role, Williams will be joining the AG Prayer Committee. Jamie Morgan, lead pastor of Life Church in Williamstown, New Jersey, is a current member of the prayer committee and is a friend of Williams.

“She is a strong minister of the gospel and intercessor who carries an anointing to impart a spirit of prayer and supplication to the Church for such a time as this,” Morgan says.

Williams hopes that all in the U.S. Assemblies of God will experience a sense of belonging, which she says can best be accomplished through mentorship.

“How are we preparing the next tier of leadership in a world that we're living in with such diversity?” Williams asks. “Not only blacks, not only whites, but every ethnicity should be developed and included in leadership.”