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A
Richmond, Virginia native and Richmond Public Schools graduate,
Rev. Dr. Madeline McClenney-Sadler accepted a Call to ministry
in high school, and in 1989, she was licensed to preach by
Riverview Baptist Church. Dr. McClenney-Sadler completed a
Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, (magna cum
laude), and a Master of Divinity degree at Howard University
in Washington, D.C. During her seven years in Washington,
she served the homeless with the Community for Creative Non-Violence.
In 1993, she was ordained to ministry to the homeless by New
Bethel Baptist Church in the District of Columbia. It was
during service to people who were homeless that the vision
for Exodus Foundation.org took root.
After completing the Master of Divinity degree, she specialized
in Old Testament studies and minored in Islamic Law and Women
Studies at Duke University where she earned the Ph.D in Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament in 2001. While completing the dissertation,
Exodus Foundation.org was founded.
Examples of Dr. McClenney-Sadler’s written pastoral/professorial
ministry can be found in several publications;
her scholarship and public service has been recognized in
awards
that enabled her to complete her education. Her most recent
article “Cry Witch: The Embers Still Burn,” will appear
in the upcoming edition of the periodical Semeia. It
is an analysis of the strategies of rejection employed by the
contemporary church to reject already disliked people (e.g.
ex-prisoners, the homeless, the poorly dressed, women, and effeminate
men).
Her
nonprofit service began in childhood when, at nine years old,
she started a girls club that raised money for Sickle
Cell Anemia research. In adulthood, she has served the AIDS
advocacy group-IMPACT-DC, The Congress of National Black Churches,
the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Council
on Foundations and ReEntry, Inc. In 1990, while serving as
the clergy coordinator for IMPACT-DC, she organized the Clergy
Commission on AIDS and the first citywide AIDS Sunday in Washington.
As a fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic
Studies, she studied drug addiction treatment for the homeless
and the black church’s role in shaping public policy.
Her research resulted in a proposal to the Congress of National
Black Churches for increasing its influence on public policies
that impact African-Americans. At the Council on Foundations,
Dr. McClenney-Sadler served as program coordinator in the
Religious Philanthropy Department. During her tenure at the
Council, she was a catalyst for connecting foundations to
black churches in regional collaborative efforts around the
country. In order to be fully equipped for ministry and teaching,
she moved from her position at the Council on Foundations
after receiving a Kearns Scholarship to study Hebrew Bible/Old
Testament in the Graduate School at Duke.
From 1998-2000, while conducting research on biblical law,
Dr. McClenney-Sadler was a consultant with the
Administrative Office of the Courts for a program known as
Re-Entry. As a sentencing specialist for Re-Entry, she
prepared case histories for the accused and advocated for
alternatives to prison time at the time of sentencing in
Superior Court. As the vision for the Foundation
crystallized during her studies in Durham, she was led to
establish its nascent structure and organizing documents. In
December of 1999, the state of North Carolina recognized
Exodus Foundation.org as a self-help, faith based private
operating membership foundation.
As a frequent pulpit guest and classroom instructor, Rev.
McClenney-Sadler reminds believers that we serve a Savior
“who died to exonerate and redeem people with a record.”
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