Profile: Minister Kimberly Morrison

Profile: Minister Kimberly Morrison
Global Missions
7/1/2011
By Annya M. Lott

Minister Kimberly Morrison became a servant leader by “getting over herself.” As a corporate leader for nearly 20 years, Morrison was content with her moderate lifestyle when God started tugging at her heart to glorify him instead of corporate profits. “You’re not doing what I called you to do. You’re not growing in the areas I desire you to grow in,” she recalls hearing God’s voice. “I didn’t want phoniness or hypocrisy to be a part of my journey. If I was going to commit, I was going to commit 200 percent.”

As a licensed minister and newlywed in 2000, Morrison and her husband relocated to Charlotte to accept a bank manager position in card services, which creatively encourages people to build more debt. Simultaneously, as she began growing in the Word, her career path no longer made sense. Morrison realized she wanted to help others by making a difference and not through financial bondage. Her position was eliminated shortly after, “I was praying for God to transition me. I thought he was going to move me to a different position in the bank,” says Morrison. “I didn’t realize he was going to take me all the way out of the bank.”

God planted Morrison’s feet at The Park Ministries. As a new member, she attended a women’s luncheon for First Lady Kimberly Alexander where she met Reverend Barbara Peacock and offered to volunteer in any capacity needed. Her first assignment was dusting desks and watering plants. “A very humbling experience; I went through a breaking process to really understand what it means to serve,” says Morrison who volunteered every day for a year. “I knew how to run meetings and meet goals but I was lacking a strong foundation in God. I grew up in the church all my life but the church had to get inside me in a more real way.”

Morrison developed strong working relationships within the church and was offered an administrative assistant position to the Minister of Outreach and Minister of Pacesetters. After intense prayer, she humbly accepted the position and within two years alongside the Director of Outreach submitted a proposal becoming Home Missions Program Coordinator to respond to the community’s growing needs.

Morrison believes servant leadership is not about the task or assignment but the outcome of serving others with joy and glorifying God. Her grandmother taught her best. As a young girl, Morrison remembers watching her grandmother come home after catering all day at local churches in Greeneville, TN and then falling to her knees to read the Bible before bed. “I watched her a lot. She gave up herself and was never selfish,” says Morrison. “She did everything with a spirit of excellence.”

Often emulating her grandmother, Morrison aids individuals and families in need during a financial crisis. In 2010, The Park Ministries served 1,100 families, primarily non-members, providing assistance with rent, mortgage, and utilities. She also oversees the AIDS Care Team Ministry, Adopt-A-School Ministry, and the Prison Ministry. Morrison believes before you can preach the Gospel, you must first meet basic human needs. “We minister to the broken-hearted, disadvantaged, and marginalized. They can come here and know that someone cares regardless of their socioeconomics. We must meet their needs first so that they can hear the Gospel.”

The AIDS Care Team provides spiritual, emotional, and physical support to individuals and families that are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Adopt-A-School Ministry supports students, parents and teaching staff at three local schools in Charlotte by providing supplies, mentors and tutors. The Prison Ministry holds monthly worship services for inmates at area facilities. This ministry also serves families of incarcerated parents by facilitating annual outreach events such as the Christmas Angel Tree and Angel Fest that provide Christmas gifts and school supplies for children.

By way of the Faith Forward in Action movement to extend the Love, Life and Lordship of Jesus Christ, Morrison envisions establishing an outreach center of empowerment and advocacy where people can grow holistically through education and professional development opportunities that include financial literacy training, resume building classes, or earning a GED. “My work is worship to God. It’s not about me, it’s about God,” says Morrison. “I would do this even if I wasn’t getting a salary. Jesus said I did not come to be served. I came to serve.”