An Interview with Rev. Debra Carter Williams
by Jennifer Parker
I choose people to interview based on a random number generator. Bet you didn’t know you had a number! A couple of months ago, the generator came up with my number. I wondered, “How am I going to handle this? I’ll talk to Debra about it.” I went ahead to choose another number and lo and behold, Debra’s came up. This seemed like divine order! We agreed to interview one another, and it was my pleasure to do Debra’s first.
What would you like to share with the community about your life?
“I’m so happy serve here as the minister, going into my third year. It’s been a joy to walk this path alongside a wonderful congregation.”
“I was born in a small town northwest of Nashville, Tennessee where I lived with my mother, grandparents, and older brother during my early years. After my mother's remarriage, I was raised in Nashville, yet I continue to value my rural upbringing." Debra attended an all-girls Catholic high school and expressed gratitude for her education under the instruction of the nuns. "Thanks to their instruction, I am well-versed in sentence diagramming.”
“I chose marriage instead of college because I was young and in love.” Her spouse was a radio broadcaster in Nashville. As part of his community volunteer work, he traveled to various churches seeking funding for a local organization, which led to the discovery of a Unity church about a year later. “We were already seeking a spiritual home and found it that Sunday.”
Debra’s former in-laws lived and worked in Washington D.C. and her early visits and interactions were a bit of a culture shock “My in-laws were active in Democratic politics and well-connected professionals in Washington. I had a wonderful relationship with them and felt deeply loved. Both had a lasting impact and influence on my life.”
“My former spouse, Chris, discerned a call to Unity ministry. After moving to Missouri, we began Licensed Teacher training at Unity Village. I was credentialed as a Licensed Unity Teacher in 1982, and Chris went on to ministerial school and was ordained in 1983. After his first pastorate in Rockford, Illinois, he was called to serve as the Senior Minister at the Unity Village Chapel. Soon afterward, I applied for ministerial school and was accepted. During the first year of the program, I began to discover my own strength and purpose, which ultimately contributed to our divorce. I was ordained in 1990 and served Atlanta Unity Church as the associate minister, where I met Don.” Debra’s ministry took her from Atlanta to Columbus, Ohio, and then to Naples, Florida.
In 2008, while serving as chair of the Licensing and Ordination Team of the Association of Unity Churches, exploratory work began regarding the possibility of master’s level accreditation for the ministerial education program. “Now, I hadn’t completed a bachelor’s degree, which was a long-held dream, and I was involved in a graduate level accreditation process. With Don’s encouragement and support, I took a leap of faith which meant leaving a vibrant congregation and many beloved friends in Naples. For a while, I was a college student concurrently with my daughter, Jennifer, and son, Jonathan. We even shared a textbook or two.”
Debra attended Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. “I graduated summa cum laude with a double major in Philosophy and Religious Studies, and a minor in history.” As she was preparing to apply to graduate programs, one of her professors encouraged Debra to attend a recruitment event at Candler School of Theology at Emory University that included representatives from several divinity schools. “After attending the recruitment event, I applied to five schools and Yale Divinity School made an offer that I couldn’t refuse ---a full scholarship.” Debra was one of only seven students accepted into the Theology Concentration. Debra is eternally grateful to her Wesleyan professors who guided and mentored her as she prepared for graduate school.
“At Yale, I was privileged to study with world-renown theologians and scholars.” Don remained in Georgia because he was unable to transfer to a position within the Veterans Administration in Connecticut. They saw one another every six weeks and, of course, during breaks.
After graduation in 2014 with a Master of Arts in Religion (MAR), Debra applied to highly competitive doctoral programs in Theology. That process was initially unsuccessful, and she rejoined Don in Georgia. She was hired as the part-time Director of Campus Ministry at Wesleyan College (her alma mater) as she discerned her next steps. She trained students to engage in interfaith dialogue and led vocational discernment programs with students. After the unexpected death of the beloved campus chaplain, Debra assumed the full-time role of acting chaplain even though she was not a United Methodist minister. Her first responsibility was to open and lead the consecration services for the newly constructed Pierce Chapel at Wesleyan College.
Debra applied the next year to Duke Divinity School at Duke University and was accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program. She completed coursework between 2015-18. After her Duke studies, Debra felt pulled to return to Unity ministry. She served Unity Center of Cedar Rapids in Iowa from 2020 until she began her ministry at Unity of Madison in January 2024.
What brought you to Unity?
“I was marginally Catholic when I first stepped into a Unity Church. I heard the minister say: ‘You are God’s beloved child in whom God is well pleased.’ I had never heard anyone say that about me before! There was a wonderful woman who ran the lending library and bookstore, Gladys Drew, who knew I was hurting and searching. She would regularly hand me a grocery bag containing three or four books to read. Lessons in Truth was first. That book saved my life because I was spiraling into depression. The book sometimes enraged me as it shook up some concretized beliefs. It changed my life totally and completely.”
What are your favorite activities at Unity?
“I love teaching classes and book studies. I also love the social events because I get to joyfully interact with the congregation in a more informal way. I also deeply appreciate Unity of Madison’s heart for justice.” Debra recently joined a faith leaders’ group that is part of the Building Unity through Nonviolent Action coalition.
Is there anything you’d like to see Unity do that would make your experience even better?
“Continue what we’re doing and spread the word about who we are. We have much to offer our community.”