The People of NorcalMLK

Rev. Donna Allen, Ph.D., has served in ministry as a preacher, teacher, pastor, chaplain and scholar. Presently Allen serves as ACPE Certified Education Student at SFTS, and Chaplain at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center – Herrick Campus, with a spiritual care specialty in Mental Health. -- Allen is Adjunct Faculty in Homiletics at American Baptist Seminary of the West and Adjunct Faculty in Preaching at Pacific School of Religion, both in Berkeley, CA. Allen previously served as Instructor of Preaching and Worship at Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, MO, Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA and pastor of Parks Chapel AME Church in Oakland, CA. Allen is a graduate of Seton Hall University (Biology), South Orange, NJ. Allen attended Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. In her third year of medical studies, Allen discerned and accepted her call to ministry and began attending Vanderbilt Divinity School, where she earned her MDiv. Allen when on to earn her Ph.D. in from Vanderbilt’s School of Religion, with an area of concentration in Homiletics. Allen is a native of East Orange, NJ. Community-minded from a very young age, Allen became involved in social justice, community organizing, voter education, and registration while still a teenager. Allen is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Allen is founder and pastor of New Revelation Community Church, with locations in Oakland and Vallejo, CA. She says, “New Revelation is a non-traditional church. When I say non-traditional, I mean radically inclusive in the ways in which we give care”. As a radically inclusive community, Allen is mindful of issues of mental health, spirituality, diverse ability and gender spectrum where all persons are affirmed and welcomed. Allen was featured in USA Today (2016) and recognized as a pastor of a black church taking up the cause of mental health. Allen was also featured in O, The Oprah Magazine (October 2016) and recognized for her congregational work addressing mental health. *** `from University of Redlands`