Rev. Dr. Kimberly O. McManus, originally from South Carolina, graduated valedictorian from high school and went to Clemson University, where she received her bachelor’s (BA) degree in Special Education and her master’s in counseling (M.Ed.). Rev. Dr. McManus completed her master’s in divinity (M.Div.) in Pastoral Ministries from Liberty University Theological Seminary in 2015 and her doctorate in education (Ed.D) in Educational Leadership from Morgan State University in 2017. She also completed her second doctorate (D.Min.) in Women and Men in Leadership from Payne Theological Seminary May 2019. Most of Rev. Dr. McManus’ professional career has been in the areas of disability support services, minority retention, English as a second language, counseling, special education, and writing. She became a college professor at the age of 24 years and has taught at several colleges and universities during her tenure including Bowie State University, where she was the youngest professor there during her tenure, and currently at Morgan State University. Her experience includes working at both 2-year and 4-year institutions, secondary schools, and correctional facilities.
Throughout her professional career, Rev. Dr. McManus has always ministered—either within a church’s context or with her voice. While in high school and college, Rev. Dr. McManus sang with the Clemson University Gospel Choir and ministered in song wherever possible. Further, she spoke at churches for various youth programs and to assist young people with thinking about their future. She preached her first sermon at a Baptist church in South Carolina when she was nineteen (19) years old. While in South Carolina, Rev. Dr. McManus became the youth minister and the minister of music at a local Baptist church. In 2000, Rev. Dr. McManus moved to Maryland and became a member of Empowerment Temple AME in Baltimore, MD, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant. She accepted her call and began the ministerial process at Empowerment in 2013 and received her first ordination as Itinerant Deacon March 2019. Bishop James L. Davis appointed Rev. Dr. McManus her first pastoral appointment March 2019, where she was the proud pastor of Mt. Zoar AME Church in Conowingo, Maryland, until April 2021. During the 205th session of the Baltimore Annual Conference on April 13, 2021, Bishop Davis appointed Rev. Dr. McManus her second pastorate at St. John AME Church in Pocomoke City, Maryland. She was then ordained as Itinerant Elder in October 2021during the Conference-wide ordination services at Reid Temple AME Church. During the 206th session of the Baltimore Annual Conference in April 2022, Bishop James Davis appointed Rev. Dr. McManus her third pastorate as the first female pastor of the historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Easton, Maryland, the oldest AME Church on the Eastern Shore. During the 74th session of the Washington Annual Conference in April 2024, Bishop Davis transferred Rev. Dr. McManus from the Baltimore Annual Conference to the Washington Conference and appointed her to Mt. Zion AME in Severn, Maryland. Dr. McManus knows that God has nothing but great things in stored as she continues to do His will! Rev. Dr. McManus assists the Baltimore Conference by providing administrative and technical support, being the director of media, while also writing litanies and poetry for the Second Episcopal District. She also served as a member of the Baltimore Annual Conference’s Board of Examiners and serves as a Trustee Board member for the Kittrell-Allen-Adams Scholarship. She assists the Conference where needed as she just wants to do God’s will and uplift His people. Dr. McManus is also one of the four life coaches for the Second Episcopal District as appointed by Bishop Davis.
In her spare time, Rev. Dr. McManus enjoys writing poetry, stories, and songs; drawing and painting; singing all sorts of melodies; and visiting her family. She ascribes to Ecclesiastes 9: 11 (NIV): “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”
