Rev. Stephanie B. Adams
Stephanie Butler Adams is the Executive Director of The Long Beach Unity Festival Incorporated, which she manages together with her husband, Steve Adams (President & CEO). She is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of the 5th Episcopal District in California.
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Stephanie holds dual undergraduate degrees in Journalism (B.S.) & Dance (B.A.) from the University of Maryland, and postgraduate (M.A.Th.) in Theology from the United Theological College of the West Indies. Prior to her transition from professional dance performance and corporate consulting in Quality Assurance for Fortune 500 companies, to full-time missions ministry 12 years ago, Stephanie sat under the tutelage of some of the best choreographers, dancers, movement analysts, and institutions across the nations including the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance (NYC), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (NYC), Kei Ta-kei & Moving Earth (Japan), Improvisations Unlimited (Washington, DC), the Laban Institute of Movement (NYC), and many others.
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Rev. Stephanie is the Founding Director of Spirit of Praise Sacred Artistry International, International Director of Liturgical Dance for the AME Church under the directive of the Music & Christian Arts Ministry (MCAM), and creator of The Dancer In Me Sacred Arts & Music Training Institute. In each role, she creates technically sound curriculum models for dance and performing arts. For more than 15 years, her ministry and mission work has been recognized worldwide spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and extensively throughout the Caribbean for her in-depth teaching on choreography, dance theology, Arts-evangelism, liturgical worship, cross-cultural outreach ministry, and the preached Word. Her first book, My Body is the Temple: Encounters and Revelations of Sacred Dance & Artistry published in 2002 is a best seller in the category of Christian Arts. Her second published work is entitled, Breathe, Balance, and STRETCH: Movement Meditations & Daily Devotionals for Living, Xulon Press Publications, July 2006, and her full-color children’s book, The Dancer in Me, was published by Xulon Press, 2014.
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Stephanie’s other major accomplishments and commendations include the 2011 Global Missions Award (International Women’s Missionary Society-Florida), Guest Presenter at the United Nations NGO Women’s Conference (New York, 2008), and articles. Stephanie is a lead choreographer and trainer in the implementation of healthy lifestyle initiatives for the Body & Soul Health and Fitness Campaign across the cities of Long Beach and L.A. LBUF’s program, “Sky Kids Creative Arts Intensive” has now been implemented in 8 LBUSD elementary schools and on-site at Northpointe Residential Community in collaboration with COR Community Development Corporation.
As a contributing host on the BME (Black Music Experience) Network, Rev. Stephanie is the host and creator of the talk show, “Sistahs On Sacred Grounds” which focuses on music, spirituality, and empowerment for women facing real-life issues and challenges in today’s world.
