About
The Reverend Dr. Michael W. Waters isthe founder and lead pastor of the Abundant Life A.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas.A pastor, professor, national award-winning author, and social justice advocate,Waters’ words of hope and empowerment inspire national and internationalaudiences. He has appeared on ABC Nightline, BBC World News, CBS This Morning,CNN, C-SPAN, Fox Soul, MSNBC, NPR, The NBC Nightly News, and PBS Newshour. Hehas also been featured or mentioned in The Associated Press, TheChicago Tribune, The Christian Century, D Magazine, EbonyMagazine, Essence Magazine, GQ Magazine, The Los AngelesTimes, The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, ReadingReligion, Reuters, Sojourners Magazine, Texas Monthly,The Texas Tribune, and The Washington Post, among other notable mediaoutlets. Waters has been invited to address such esteemed institutions as AmericanAirlines, Inc., the Muhammad Ali Center, the Christian Community DevelopmentAssociation, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, theNational Civil Rights Museum, the Oxford Colloquium at Oxford University, theUnited States House of Representatives, and the World Methodist Conference.
Waters earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees with honors at Southern Methodist University(SMU) and the SMU Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas, where he was a recipient of the Prothro Promise for Ministry Full Academic MeritScholarship and served as the founding director of the now endowedSMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage. He received The “M” Award, the “highest recognition bestowed upon students, faculty, staff, and administrators on theSMU campus,” and the B’nai B’rith Award in Social Ethics bestowed upon a theology student for scholarly competence in the field and personal commitment to worthy social causes. Currently, Waters is a PhD student in the AfricanAmerican Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric Program at Christian TheologicalSeminary in Indianapolis, Indiana. His primary research interests include the AfricanAmerican Prophetic Tradition, Black embodied resistance, and prophetic rhetoric and the public square. He serves as the Bishop Henry McNeal TurnerDistinguished Lecturer at Turner Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, and as an adjunct professor at the SMU Perkins School of Theology. Waters also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Communication and Religion, and his research has been supported by the Forum for Theological Exploration, theLouisville Institute, and the Emerson Collective.
Waters is the chair of the Social Action and Social Justice Ministry of the Tenth Episcopal District(Texas) of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a founding member of the Dallas Black Clergy for Safety, Equity, and Justice, and he has formerly served as the chair of the City of Dallas’ Martin Luther King, Jr. CommunityCenter Board and as co-chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, the largest multi-faith justice organization in North Texas. Committed to the preservation of racial memory, Waters is a former vice chair and current board member of Foot Soldiers Park and Educational Center in Selma, Alabama. He is also a principal at MYWaters Consulting, LLC, which provides race equity training and resources to corporations, organizations, educational institutions, and congregations nationally.
Waters is a three-time winner of the Religion Communicators Council’s prestigious Wilbur Award for StakesIs High: Race, Faith, and Hope for America, named Nonfiction Book of theYear, and For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World and Liberty’sCivil Rights Road Trip, both named Children’s Book of the Year. Awarded theChildren’s Book Council’s Youth Book Prize for Social Justice, EssenceMagazine calls For Beautiful Black Boys one of the “Six Must-Read BooksAbout Race For Your Children and Teens,” and Liberty’s Civil Rights RoadTrip was named among the Library of Congress’ “Great Reads from GreatPlaces.” Publisher’s Weekly calls his latest nonfiction book Something in the Water: A 21st Century Civil Rights Odyssey a “blistering critique of white supremacy and racial injustice [that] should be a wake-up call toAmericans in general and the church in particular.” His forthcoming book, BendWithout Breaking: Seven Steps for Thriving in the Struggle, is being published by Broadleaf Books.
Waters has received commendations from The White House and Special Congressional Recognition forService and Leadership from the U. S. House of Representatives. His leadership amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Winter Storm Uri garnered him the Texas LegislativeBlack Caucus’ Outstanding Texan Award. Waters is also a recipient of theDallas-Fort Worth Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Community Leader of the Year Award, the Dallas Peace and Justice Center’s Peacemaker of the YearAward, the Center for Theological Activism’s Pastor of the Year Award, the NextGeneration Action Network’s Courage in Action Award, and Southern MethodistUniversity’s Distinguished Alumni Emerging Leader Award.
Waters is married to the Reverend Yulise Reaves Waters, Esq. They are the proud parents of four children:M. Jeremiah, Hope, Liberty, and Justice.