As he officially steps into his new role in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, Bishop Harry L. Seawright brings a bold vision of revitalization in his plans as presiding prelate of the Second Episcopal District (SED).
Flanked by values rooted in education and economic development, the former pastor of Maryland’s Union Bethel A.M.E. Church espouses a focus on the work that began with his late great predecessor, while furthering what he considers the roots of the A.M.E. Church.
“My basic overall goal is to encourage, enable, and empower people, and that is from babies to seniors,” Seawright told The Informer. “I’m still at it after 49 years of ministry, and I have less than seven before I have to retire. I’m far [more] than excited about the opportunities in the entire district – not only just Washington, D.C., and Maryland, but also Virginia and the state of North Carolina.”
The bishop’s return to the SED comes in the wake of the preceding Rt. Rev. Reginald T. Jackson’s Nov. 25 passing, which marked a moment to expand a collective vision of faith-led resilience.
A fourth-generation AME, Seawright’s roots in community upliftment extend beyond the church to a champion of health equity and generational healing.
While emulating Jackson’s passion for justice and merging his own crop of values, he envisions a future that touts economic power, from job training and housing to eliminating poverty by installing economic development centers in all five conferences.
“This is the kind of program(s) we bring to the table. Economic development, the empowerment of people, empowerment of our communities,” Seawright added, “to live a life that, we believe, God wants [for] all of his children.”
For the Rev. Krishnan Natesan, pastor of Maryland’s Hemingway Memorial A.M.E. Church, the appointment is just as timely as it is fitting of the man behind the role.
“In all my interactions with him, he’s always been a friend,” Natesan recently told The Informer. “I’m grateful for him coming. I believe that his common touch will help us to do great works right here in the SED.”
A Decorated Career and the Legacy of ‘A Dear Friend’
Seawright’s appointment earned congratulatory remarks from congregants and residents throughout the region, including Restoration Inc., founder and executive director, Dr. Fredrica Brooks-Davis.
In A.M.E.’s Dec. 22 announcement, the entrepreneur noted the moment as more than a homecoming, but a nod to the continuity of a legacy built with honor.
“The work Bishop Jackson initiated in the [Second] speaks for itself—his legacy lives on,” she wrote on the Facebook post. “I’m grateful God called Bishop and Supervisor Seawright to the [Second], leaders who know how to comfort God’s people, honor the past, and move the assignment forward.”
Seawright’s no stranger to driving the needle forward.
His historic appointment as the 133rd bishop marked only the second time in AME history for a bishop to be elected on the first ballot, ending a 44-year gap since the inaugural moment.
Beyond the pulpit, he worked to bridge communities through healing and leadership, penning books such as: “More Than Bricks and Mortar: Building a Church Without Losing Your Mind” (1996), and “Don’t Faint: Help for Hurting Pastors and Their Families” (2012).
When he’s not forging paths to interfaith relations or bridging generations in prayerful wisdom, the South Carolina native embodies a responsibility to others that not only aligns with his idea of the church but also carries on the legacy of his predecessor.
“[Bishop Jackson] was a champion for social action. Among our council bishops, we looked to him for advice and his opinion on whom we should support, what we should do, what [were] the hot button issues in our country,” he told The Informer. “We want to carry out [his] traditions.”
As the 132nd elected bishop, Jackson held a pivotal impact in debt repayment in the Sixth District, the reaccreditation of Morris Brown College, and advocating for civil rights and protections in Georgia legislation.
His official announcement of the broader “Target Target” boycott in February 2025 sparked resistance work among local Black churches–– including the historic Metropolitan A.M.E. in Northwest, D.C.–– while fueling a charge to protect the Black dollar against injustice.
Seawright credits a deep investment in voter registration and engaging communities in faith-driven resistance among the traits he most admired of the late bishop – and now plans to sustain in honor of a “dear friend.”
“Thirteen years of friendship, fellowship, and even more than that, because we campaigned together for at least eight years,” Seawright shared. “Yeah, we were dear friends.”
Seawright’s Plans To Boost the SED
In addition to honoring ancestral wisdom, some of what’s to come in this area is stamped throughout Seawright’s nationwide imprint.
As the former presiding prelate of the Ninth District, he helped launch a Birmingham grocery store to address food insecurity in Alabama, assisting low-income residents with affordable – or free for those on SNAP – household essentials and food items.
In his most recent role, the Howard University alumnus signed off on building charter schools that work to eliminate the prison pipeline for young African American men of the 13th District in Tennessee.
Among other notions to advance the nation’s capital, he touts his integral background in assistive programs for life insurance coverage, as well as forging paths for senior citizens to socially engage and prioritize physical health.
“I love getting involved…and [learning] the needs of the community, and what can the government, as well as elected officials, do to help us,” he told The Informer, “doing what I believe that the government ought to be doing to help the people.”
Along with installing economic development centers throughout Washington, Baltimore, Virginia, and North Carolina, Seawright said he’d also like to implement community hubs that teach preventative health measures – such as increasing exercise and literacy in diabetes, heart disease, and the management of other health issues plaguing generational wealth.
In preserving Jackson’s memory, he shared hopes to see “some type of social justice center” developed in his honor.
Reflecting on his return to the SED, the bishop indulged the power of faith and the strength of knowing God’s voice in a familial-spirited welcome sermon at Greater Bethel AME in North Carolina.
“I believe in prayer because it’s no way I could be at the Second Episcopal District – ‘first for Christ, second to none,’” he told the congregation on Dec. 31, citing the SED motto. “If your home needs you, if you can go back home…I just thank God that I’m able to go back home.”
In the meantime, Brooks-Davis boosted a positive word for the newly minted prelate.
“Bishop Seawright, every experience has prepared you for this moment. Though you’ve returned, you come back renewed — called to do a new thing,” read her Dec. 22 comment. “I pray the people receive you for who you are now.”