On January 1, 1957, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech entitled “Facing the Challenge of a New Age.” Addressing more than 7,000 people, Dr. King spoke of that time as one of the most momentous periods in human history. He said, “… It is an exciting age, filled with hope. An age in which a new world order is being born … we stand between two worlds: the dying old and the emerging new.”

Since July 2023, The Reverend Leah Burns has served as the associate director of Multicultural Ministries in the Holston Conference. She seeks to lead and guide the church and community as they too face “the challenges of a new age.” In the pursuit of building diverse and inclusive faith communities reflective of the richness of our broader society, she emphasizes honoring the cultural heritage and traditions that each group brings. Multicultural Ministries was specifically established to assist the Annual Conference and its congregations in achieving full, equal participation of racial and ethnic minority constituencies in the Church’s mission and life.

Rev. Burns identifies as a faith-rooted activist dedicated to justice and inclusion in both the church and the broader community. She believes in being God’s hands and feet on earth, striving to embody the vision described in Revelation 7:9, where St. John the Apostle said, “I saw many people. No one could tell how many there were. They were from every nation and from every family and from every kind of people and from every language … .” Her mission is to help communities live into this Kingdom vision: a world where everyone – black, white, yellow, and brown; male and female; young and old; from every place of origin, family, tribe, tongue, and nation – is welcomed, included, present, and loved.

Rev. Burns actively cultivates racial literacy in churches and communities by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds to build new relationships. She achieves this through leading workshops, seminars, book studies, discussions, and Bible studies across the Holston Annual Conference, which encompasses East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. A licensed and certified local pastor for 20 years, she has served pastoral appointments at Lennon-Seney, Second, Church Street, and Haven Chapel United Methodist Churches.

Raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rev. Burns comes from two generations of AME clergy in her family. Pastoral ministry is her “second career,” as she previously held executive-level positions in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. These roles took her to live in six states and travel abroad to several countries before settling in Knoxville, where she currently resides.

Activist, community organizer, and author DeRay Mckesson, in his book The Other Side of Freedom, wrote:
“In each generation there is a moment when young and old, inspired or disillusioned, come together around a shared hope, imagine the world as it can be, and have the opportunity to bring that world into existence. Our moment is now!”

Although the world feels frantic, messy, and broken, Rev. Burns reminds us to hold on to hope, trusting that God will use our efforts to create something amazing and beautiful. Truly, our moment is now!