Rev. Dr. Ann Farrar Lightner-Fuller
Biographical Sketch

         

The Reverend Dr. Ann F. Lightner-Fuller is the esteemed pastor of the Mt. Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church in Towson, Maryland. A native of Raleigh North Carolina, her pastoral ministry began in April 1983 following her ordination as an itinerant Deacon. Rev. Lightner Fuller preached her initial sermon in 1981 at Bethel A.M.E. Church (Baltimore, MD) under the pastorate of her father in the ministry now Bishop John R. Bryant. In twenty-six (26) years of ministry she has served in both rural and urban settings. Since her appointment to Mt. Calvary the membership has grown from 150 to 2001. Under her spiritual leadership the members of Mt. Calvary liquidated a one million dollar mortgage in just five years. In September of 2003, Rev. Lightner-Fuller and her congregation purchased property adjacent to the church to construct an Education and Family Life Center.  This facility will house numerous programs aimed at strengthening families and making Mt. Calvary the hub of the Towson community. Rev. Lightner-Fuller currently serves as a member of the Baltimore Annual Conference Board of Examiners, a Conference Trustee, and as the Second Episcopal District Treasurer for General Conference Sustentation. In July of 2004, during the 47th Session of the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference held in Indianapolis, Indiana, she was appointed to serve on the General Board of the A.M.E. Church. God continues to call Rev. Lightner-Fuller to a higher level of service within the African Methodist Episcopal Church and around the world. In February 2006, Pastor Fuller was selected to represent the A.M.E. Church at the World Council of Churches in Brazil. Pastor Lightner-Fuller is a woman of many “firsts.”  She served as the first coordinator of Women in Ministry for the Second Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church, she was the first woman to preach the Annual Sermon in the historic Baltimore Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1990, she was elected the first woman to serve as president of the Baltimore A.M.E.Ministerial Alliance, in 1992,and she was the first woman to preach at the Morning Worship Service at the historic Hampton University Ministers’ Conference, in 1996.  Rev. Lightner-Fuller received a Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship to attend Boston University, where she received her undergraduate degree in communications.    She holds a Master’s in Theology from St. Mary’s Seminary, the Ecumenical Institute, Baltimore, Maryland. She received her Doctorate of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where, as a Dr. Jeremiah Wright/Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu Scholar, she focused on Afrocentric Preaching and Pastoring. She has done further study at Harvard University. God has so expanded the territory of Rev. Lightner-Fuller’s ministry that you can see and hear her preaching ministry on the Ann Lightner Fuller Ministries television broadcast, which airs on the Word Network.  She can be seen Sunday mornings as co-host of Baltimore’s ABC Channel 2 Grace and Glory television show.  Additionally, she is the author of two books, And Your Daughters Shall Preach: Developing a Female Mentoring Program for the African American Church, and Desperate People: Sermons for Times Like These.  Her sermons have also been featured in the African American Pulpit, the AME Reviewer, and several other publications. Rev. Lightner-Fuller is married to Reverend Stanley Fuller, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.  Together, the Fullers have four children, one daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters, Aliyah Brooke and Lawren Victoria. In October 2005 Rev. Fuller declared her candidacy for the office of Bishop in the A.M.E. Church. She proclaims the joy of the Lord as her strength and loves being in the service of the Lord.  She confesses that her life had no real meaning or direction before accepting Christ as her personal Savior.  Now, He has made something beautiful out of her life.