St James AME Church, Elgin, Illinois

Bishop E. Anne Henning-Byfield

Posted on Fri, Oct 15, 2021

President of the Council of Bishops

Anne Henning Byfield is one who dares to Live, Learn, Lead, and Love GOD. She lives a life filled with creativity and passion as a bishop, preacher, psalmist, poet, sacred word artist, strategic consultant, writer, composer, wife, mother and grandmother. Married to Ainsley for 45 years they have one son, Michael, and four grandchildren. She loves GOD and encourages others to know and love GOD as well.

As a leader, Bishop Anne Henning Byfield serves as the 135th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her historic election in the year 2016 represents the first time in the history of the AME Church, a person was elected who had a sibling on the Council of Bishops, Bishop C. Garnett Henning. She serves as the Bishop of the 16th Episcopal District, where she provides leadership to seven annual conferences representing fourteen countries, in the Caribbean, South America, and Europe. She is the Chair of the Global Development Council, Commission on Women In Ministry, and World Methodist Evangelism. She is also a Golden Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Bishop Anne Henning Byfield is a product of the Methodist parsonage. Her father Dr. Herman W. Henning pastored in the 13th and 8th Districts and was a presiding elder. Her mother, M. Elizabeth Miller Henning was servant leader in the Women’s Missionary Society, YPD, and musician. Together, they had seven children of which one was a diplomat, three were pastors, one was an episcopal supervisor, and one an executive in the business community. Bishop Henning Byfieild’s aunt Blanche Caddell started Faith AME Church which was one of the founding churches of Tri-Union AME in St Louis.. Another aunt, Wencie Caddell founded two churches in Buffalo, NY.

She is the author of three books: Let the Worship Begin, The Essence of My Existence, and Produced by Strength, Living by Power. She is the Co-Author of Odyssey, A Girls Mentoring Program, Editor of From The Heart of A Leader, and a contributor to several books including Those Preaching Women, International Edition, Mr. President, Interfaith Perspectives on the Historic Presidency of Barack H. Obama, and Black Women and Black Girls Matter. She wrote the lyrics for the Hymn for the Alabama State Wide Holiday Celebration of Rosa Parks, noted composer Dr. Uzee Brown wrote the music. She has the honor of a hymn she has written published in the One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism Hymnal was debuted at the 2018 Hampton Ministers and Music Conference. has a Spoken Word CD “Flowing Essence”.

As a learner, she has a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Wilberforce University, Master of Divinity degree from Newburgh Theological Seminary, Master of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary, Doctor of Ministry Degree from Ashland Theological Seminary, and an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from R.R. Wright School of Religion, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her dissertation is entitled the Effect of Short Notice Itinerant Moves on Pastors in the North District of the AME Church.

She is the former Presiding Elder of the North District Indiana Annual Conference and of the South District Indiana Annual Conference. She is the first Presiding Elder who is female in the Fourth Episcopal District and considered first woman Presiding Elder in the AME connection whose father was a Presiding Elder. She served as Senior Pastor of three churches, Bethel AME Church, Bloomington, IN, Robinson Community AME Church, Indianapolis, and St. Paul AME Church, Detroit, MI. Evident at each church were sustained spiritual, numerical, and financial growth, along with significant capital improvements

She has received numerous awards including the Jarena Lee Preaching Award; the Legacy Award for over 25 years of leadership in Pastoral Health Initiatives particularly in the HIV/AIDS community; one of eight religious history makers in the Indianapolis Community, one of the most 15 influential African Americans in Indianapolis and was named as one of its ten most influential pastors. She is a 2020 recipient of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Beautiful Are Your Feet Award, recipient of the Indiana Christian Drum Major for Peace and Justice Award, among others.

She is a former adjunct faculty member for Christian Theological Seminary and conducts various mentoring and coaching groups. She is a former Assistant Director of Department of Labor Contract Compliance, Indianapolis. During her tenure she worked on or supervised numerous cases which desegrated Steel Mills of the United States and several fortune 500 Companies .As a Bishop she has established a vocational school in Haiti, re-established the AME Church in Cuba, planted or received ten churches; one of which is in Belize, where no AME Church existed, two are in Bahia, again where no AME Church existed, and dedicated four newly built churches and paid off the mortgage of the Episicopal Residence.

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