Reverend Aqueelah As-Salaam served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army for eleven years prior to entering the ministry. She has had several ministerial positions that include Hospice Chaplain, Corrections Chaplain, Police Chaplain and the Associate Pastor of Pembroke Manor United Church of Christ in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

In addition, Reverend As-Salaam has served as the Executive Director of the Richmond Education Peace Center, a Center dedicated to eradicating violence in our communities. While serving as the Director of REPC, she introduced several new programs, to include, A Faithful Response to Urban Violence, Gender and Violence, and Sexism in The Black Church Experience.

Reverend As-Salaam has also served as the Executive Director of the Institute for Southern Studies, an organization dedicated to providing a critical reflection on issues of Peace and Justice. As the Executive Director, Reverend As-Salaam also served as publisher of the Institute’s award-winning magazine, Southern Exposure.

Reverend As-Salaam received her undergraduate degree from Virginia State University and her Master of Divinity from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University. She has completed a residency in Clinical Pastoral Education at the Emory University Center for Pastoral Services in Atlanta, Georgia and has received additional training in Post Trauma Stress Disorder and Critical Incident Stress Management.

As pastor of the First Church of North Miami she has embraced the vision of a church with an extravagant welcome where all of God’s people are invited in. She believes in a church that response to the needs of the community and advocates on behalf of the disenfranchised. As a community of faith she believes that God’s calls us to spread the Gospel through word and deed.