Bethel A.M.E. Staff
Meet Our Pastor
Rev. Allison Cannady-Smith is the proud Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Portland, OR as of
November 2023. In 2017 she led Bailey AME in Everett, Washington as the Senior Pastor. Prior to that, Reverend Cannady-Smith served on the ministerial staff of Allen AME Church in Tacoma, WA, under the pastoral leadership of Reverend Anthony Steele, where she led the prayer and women’s health ministries. Rev. Cannady-Smith serves as the Registrar for the Board of Examiners for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Cascade District. For over 25 years she has served in various roles in higher education including Associate Vice President for Constituent Relations at the University of Puget Sound.
Reverend Cannady-Smith’s ministry vision is “to exemplify the love and light of Jesus Christ; to persuade those who do not know Him to accept His saving grace; and to inspire those who do know Him to walk in His resurrection power”. She is a breast cancer survivor and advocates for health equity for all persons.
Reverend Cannady-Smith accepted the call to preach in 2004 while at Greater Community Bible Tabernacle in Philadelphia under Bishop Stacey W. Roberts. She served on the ministerial staff of Greater Community until 2006 when she, her husband Greg, and
children Amanda and Gregory relocated to Tacoma, WA.
Reverend Cannady-Smith is also an aspiring theologian and holds a Master of Divinity from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry.
In 2011, he was appointed the Assistant to the Pastor of First AME, Church, but the Lord elevated his work at the call of Bishop T. Larry Kirkland to in February of 2012 to become the pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church in San Francisco, where God moved in a mighty way. Allen’s membership and spirits grew almost immediately as souls were being won for Christ. New ministries were started, and existing ministries were revived. During his brief tenure there, he was elected as the Vice President of the California Conference’s Ministerial Alliance and appointed the Assistant Secretary of the 149th Session of the California Annual Conference, and the Statistician of the and 150th Session of the California Conference.
The Rev. Cecil L. Williams, Jr. was born to Cecil L. and Cynthia R. Williams in San Francisco, Ca. As a child, he was raised in church with a family of preachers, teachers, and gospel recording artists. He was taught to reverence God, love God’s people, and do Kingdom work to the honor and glory of the Savior. He accepted Christ as his personal savior in the fourth grade. Matriculating and graduating through the public and private schools of Northern California, he successfully entered college, he was conferred with the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities from the New College of California. He sought out direction for his life at First AME Church in Oakland where he soon became a member, matured and accepted the call to ordained ministry under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Harold R. Mayberry (now Presiding Elder), Chairperson of the AME Episcopal Committee.
As an associate minister, he successfully completed the AME Board of Examiners, and a Master of Divinity from the American Baptist Seminary of the West. He was ordained an itinerant deacon under the leadership of Bishop John R. Bryant, and an itinerant elder in under the hand of the Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, in the 5th Episcopal District. Rev. Williams became a guest speaker on the local, conference and district levels in several experiences around the 5th Episcopal District, and ecumenically in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area.
In 2011, he was appointed the Assistant to the Pastor of First AME, Church, but the Lord elevated his work at the call of Bishop T. Larry Kirkland to in February of 2012 to become the pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church in San Francisco, where God moved in a mighty way. Allen’s membership and spirits grew almost immediately as souls were being won for Christ. New ministries were started, and existing ministries were revived. During his brief tenure there, he was elected as the Vice President of the California Conference’s Ministerial Alliance and appointed the Assistant Secretary of the 149th Session of the California Annual Conference, and the Statistician of the and 150th Session of the California Conference.
Meet Our Staff
Sister Kay Wallace
Church Administrator
Sister Dorothy Fuller
Church Secretary
Sister Denice Bailey Braxton
Executive Assistant to the Pastor
Rev. Dion Jordan
Itinerant Elder
Rev. Dr. Dennis Payne, II
Itinerant Elder (on loan)
Sister Genna Fisher
Licentiate
Sister Bobbi Smith
Exhorter
Sister Kay Wallace
Church Administrator
Rev. Cecil L. Williams
The Rev. Cecil L. Williams, Jr. was born to Cecil L. and Cynthia R. Williams in San Francisco, Ca. As a child, he was raised in church with a family of preachers, teachers, and gospel recording artists. He was taught to reverence God, love God’s people, and do Kingdom work to the honor and glory of the Savior.
Rev. Dion C. Jordan
Rev. Dion Jordan is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and has faithfully served at Bethel AME since 1999. He has been the Youth Minister, the Assistant Minister, and has overseen the Media Ministry of the church. Currently, he is the Executive Minister of Bethel AME Church
Meet Our Staff
Sister Kay Wallace
Church Administrator
Sister Dorothy Fuller
Church Secretary
Sister Bobbi Smith
Exhorter
Sister Genna Fisher
Licentiate
Rev. Dion Jordan
Itinerant Elder
Sister Kay Wallace
Church Administrator
Sister Dorothy Fuller
Church Secretary
Rev. Dr. Dennis Payne, II
Itinerant Elder (on loan)
Sister Bobbi Smith
Exhorter
Sister Genna Fisher
Licentiate
Rev. Dion Jordan
Itinerant Elder
