Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom Grier, lead pastor at Maple Avenue Ministries
712-707-7190, tanya.vaas@nwciowa.edu
The Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom Grier is the lead pastor at Maple Avenue Ministries, a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-generational congregation in Holland, Michigan. Maple Avenue is the first union church of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church. Kingdom Grier graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, where she received a B.A. in psychology.
After serving as a social worker for many years, she went on to become the first African-American female to graduate from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, with a Master of Divinity degree. She recently earned a doctorate in ministry from Western, researching apartheid in the American church looking toward the development of an embracing model of ministry. She served as chair of the diversity team for Western Theological Seminary for four years and consultant to the seminary's president on matters of diversity for two years.
Kingdom Grier is a dynamic, anointed preacher, teacher and pastor. She has committed her life to proclaiming the gospel of peace and justice.
She is the wife of CJ Kingdom Grier and the mother of two biological children as well as a host of other foster and surrogate children who have shared her life and home.