Once a successful politician and a drinking feminist who was also an atheist, Dr. Hyveth Williams had her own “Damascus Road experience.” This led her down a path to become the first woman senior pastor and also the first black woman pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in America. Currently, she is the senior pastor of the Campus Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loma Linda, Calif., and is an adjunct professor of religion at Loma Linda University.

She’s now an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and in-demand preacher of the gospel. Her influence is profoundly felt around the world.

I spent some time interviewing and getting to know the real person ordained by God to affect lives everywhere. Here is the result of our chats.

1. Your story of conversion is well-known. Many people who convert maintain certain personality traits unique to their DNA as designed by the Creator. Are there any parts of that cigar-smoking, swearing feminist politician that still remain in you as a preacher, counselor, and minister?
One of the fantastic things about God is that when he changes a person inside out, he takes old corrupted passions, cleans them up, and sends us out to make waves for Jesus. So my answer is yes, I am still passionate, political, and—some would agree—pushy. Only now, it’s with a winsome smile and a compassionate heart. I know what I want, I set my face like a flint toward my goals, and in time I look up and I’ve arrived. Then I start all over again with new challenges and opportunities.

2. Before you turned your life over to Christ, your No. 1 goal as a politician was to get elected as the first black female mayor in the United States. How much of that personal drive and ambition would you say led you to become the first black female pastor and first female senior pastor in our denomination?
I’m sure that some of that latent ambition drove my life, but I was not particularly aware of it. The fact is that in the beginning, I didn’t want to be a minister. I prayed and fasted, asking God to allow me to continue on the lucrative path I was on. When I heard him again instruct me to go into the ministry, I was just nominated to be vice president of a quasi-federal agency in Washington, D.C., with offices in several states. I even promised to pay double tithe and give more Bible studies, but God would not bargain with me. Eventually I gave in and pursued ministry. I had no idea that I would be successful because at the time there was a great hoopla about women in ministry, and I was certainly discouraged by some church leaders to pursue this goal. I was told that I was too old, divorced, and a woman of color so my chances of being hired was nil. From that background I launched out thinking, If I want to throw my life away at this stage, who better to throw it on but God? I had already tried the world and gotten zero returns for my investment.

Anyway, as I’ve said in my autobiography, Will I Ever Learn?, being first is not all that it’s cracked up to be, but at this time in my life I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I just thank God that he trusted me to be the first.

3. You have been both praised and criticized for your sermons, theology, and preaching style. How and why are you misunderstood?
I believe that sometimes I am misunderstood because I share things some members of our church have not heard or thought of before. However, more often than not, after people have taken the time to check things out, they agree with what I have presented. I am of the belief and agree with Ellen White when she said that “truth is never afraid of scrutiny.” Since I am a pastor who happens to be female, there’s greater scrutiny and skepticism when some people listen to my sermons. The blessing is that there are more who appreciate them than those who don’t. It reflects a lot of the many [positive] emails I receive each day.

4. You are the recipient of several distinguished awards, including last year’s Citizen of the Year for San Bernadino County. If you were to choose one personal success story as a pastor, what would it be?
About eight years ago a stranger challenged me to do something about pregnant teens in our county. She owned an agency that looked after girls who are wards of the state—pregnant, truant, abused, broken in every way. I shared this with my church, and they rallied with me. We started a program called Macedonian Ministry, echoing the call the apostle received from that city. A group of medical students and social workers took over the program and recruited a lot of other volunteers. We taught these teens a lot of skills and tutored them so they could graduate from high school. We dedicated their babies every year and taught them about the love of Jesus. Many of them have moved on to find jobs, live independently off the streets, or attend college. Every day we run into one or more of them who share their success stories with us. The ministry leaders are now focusing on foster children.

5. What is your biggest regret as a pastor in the Adventist Church?
None yet.

6. Your church, Campus Hill, is smack in the mecca of Adventism: Loma Linda University. What are you most proud of about your church in an area so saturated with other Adventist churches competing for territory?
First, we are known for our diversity. Sixtyfive different nationalities worship in our church and get along as kingdom dwellers. Second, we are lauded for our involvement in the surrounding community. Third, the foundation out of which the above grows is our consistent preaching of the gospel; you may see our Gospel Statement on our website. This has been shared with ministers around the world, some of whom have adopted it in their churches.

7. How has your church benefited from the explosion of media technologies?
A few years ago we established the position of a media pastor and invested in video equipment to record our worship services. We were able to attract the interest of Hope Channel, on which our sermons, musical programs, and counseling series called “A Painted World: Portraits of Illusion and Reality” are aired daily, worldwide. Like other churches, we face many challenges in these uncertain economic times. God, on his part, has been consistently faithful in opening opportunities where there seemed to be none. To him be the glory!

Due to space constraints, this interview was edited for content. For the full version, visit our website at www.atoday.com. Visit Dr. Williams’ website at www.HyvethWilliamsMinistries.org.

pp.26,27 ADVENTIST TODAY • SEPTEMPER-OCTOBER 2008