Bishop Sarah Frances Taylor Davis
February 4, 1948 - November 9, 2013
Sarah was appointed by Bishop John Bryant IN 1997 to the historic Bethel A.M.E. Church in San Antonio, Texas, making her the first woman in Texas to be appointed to a major A.M.E. Church. She served Bethel-San Antonio for seven years.
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Elected from the Tenth Episcopal District (Texas) in 2004, Bishop Davis was the third woman elevated to episcopal service in our Zion. Before her assignment to the Sixteenth Episcopal District (The Caribbean, South America and Europe) she provided exemplary leadership in the Eighteenth District (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Swaziland).
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Her Story
On June 20, 1970, Sarah married the love of her life, Claytie Davis, Jr. and to this union was born two sons, Claytie, III and Corey Barrington Davis.
Also in 1970, Sarah and Claytie united with the Wesley Chapel A.M.E. Church under the pastorate of Dr. E. E. Coates. It was at Wesley that she acknowledged her call to ministry and preached her trial sermon in 1988. In an unprecedented move in 1990, Bishop Robert Pruitt admitted her to the Texas Annual Conference and ordained her as an itinerant deacon at the same Conference. This had never been done before. This would only be a foretaste of what God had in store for this great servant.
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In 1992, Bishop John R. Bryant ordained her as an Itinerant Elder in the Texas Annual Conference and appointed her to the Sealy Circuit which was comprised of the St. Paul and Prairie View A.M.E. Churches. In 1993, she commenced and completed the building of a 350 seat sanctuary and a fellowship hall at Prairie View A.M.E. Church.
It soon became evident that Bishop Sarah was a woman of great faith who believed in the power of prayer. Her journey in formal prayer ministry began when she was appointed District Prayer Leader by one of her ministry mentors, the late Presiding Elder X. L. Williams. She was appointed as the Assistant Director of Prayer for the Connectional Church in 1994 and in 1997 was appointed the Connectional Director of Prayer. Also in 1997, Sarah was appointed by Bishop John Bryant to the historic Bethel A.M.E. Church in San Antonio, Texas, making her the first woman in Texas to be appointed to a major A.M.E. Church. She served Bethel-San Antonio for seven years.
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Believing she had heard from the Lord concerning offering herself for Episcopal service, Bishop Sarah announced her candidacy for the office of Bishop in December 2001. Her devoted husband, Claytie was by her side every step of the way. Sarah and Claytie were on a mission to “Transform Minds and Change The World.” On July 6, 2004, just as the Lord had revealed to her, Sarah Davis was elected a Bishop in the A.M.E. Church. Her election made her only the third woman in the 218–year history of the denomination to ascend to its highest level of service.