Reverend Will S. Kenlaw III
Reverend Will Kenlaw has over 25 years of active ministry including 14 years of Pastoral ministry. He accepted his call to ministry in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1995, was licensed to preach in 1996, ordained an Itinerant Deacon in 2000, and ordained an Itinerant Elder in 2002. He is the son of Elder Willie Kenlaw Jr., a former Pastor. He is a graduate of Evangel Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theological Studies, the Harvard Business School with a Master’s in Business Administration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering.
Reverend Kenlaw was a member of Allen Chapel AME Church, Silver Spring, Maryland, for 20 years, where he was the Ministerial Staff Coordinator, Minister To Men, Communications Team leader, and founded the Evangelism Ministry and the Healing Prayer Ministry. On April 12, 2008, he was appointed by Bishop Adam J. Richardson as Pastor of New Birth AME Church in Rockville, Maryland where he served 4 years. On April 28, 2012, he was appointed by Bishop Adam J. Richardson, as Pastor of Galilee AME Church in Washington, DC. On April 19, 2013, he was appointed by Bishop William P. DeVeaux as Pastor of Agape AME Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. On July 28, 2020, Pastor Kenlaw was transferred to the Baltimore Conference and appointed as Pastor of Oak Street AME Church in Baltimore by Bishop James L. Davis.
Pastor Kenlaw serves alongside his wife, the Reverend Lydia G. Kenlaw, an Itinerant Elder, as a Pastoral Team to congregations and the community.
Additional Christian Service
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Combined Lenten Service Cluster Leader, Eight (8) Black Methodist Churches in Montgomery County, 2014-2020
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Potomac District, Washington Conference, Christian Education Director, 2005-2007
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Registrar, SED Christian Ed Youth Leadership Congress
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Team Leader, Potomac District Church School Workers’ Retreat
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Allen Chapel AME Church-Silver Spring
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11 Years on the Ministerial Staff
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8 Years on the Steward Board
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10 Years as Sunday School Superintendent
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16 Years as the Assistant Director of the Young Men’s Mentoring Program
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Launched Allen Chapel’s Evangelism Ministry in 2002
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Launched Allen Chapel’s Healing Prayer Ministry in 2003
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Project Manager, Pre-Construction Phase for New Church Building
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Negotiated statements of work for the architect, general contractor, and civil engineering firm
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Negotiated $1.47 million construction loan for the new Church sanctuary
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Wrote Strategic Plan Outline for the local Church
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Minister To Men: Initiated a three-fold leadership structure and organization model (Teaching, Projects, & Fellowship Activities)
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Community Service
Pastor Kenlaw’s secular job is the program manager for marketing, advertising, and customer service for the Division of Transit Services in the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). He serves as the MCDOT representative on the Community Action Agency (CAA) Board of Directors. The CAA works to eliminate poverty, assist food insecure families, and provide headstart and kindergarten education to low-income children.