Rev. Dr Sarita WIlson-Anderson
Rev. Dr. Sarita Marie Wilson is a native of Hampton, VA, and currently resides in Memphis, TN. She is an Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an associate minister of Saint Andrew African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Sarita is an anointed and gifted spiritual leader who lives according to Romans 12:1 by presenting her body as a living sacrifice to God through the ministries of preaching and dance.
At the heart of Dr. Sarita’s ministry is the mantra "Dance the Word." For over 20 years, she has served as the Minister of Dance at Saint Andrew and is recognized nationwide for her exceptional talent in dance ministry. Additionally, Rev. Sarita leads Ministry in Motion, which began with just seven youth members and has since expanded to include over 100 individuals—children, youth, women, and men—who proudly express their faith through the art of dance.
More About Rev. Dr. Sarita’s Ministry
Bi-Annually, Ministry in Motion hosts “Dance the Word,” a liturgical dance conference. Each year over 200 dancers attend the conference, which offers workshops in healing through dance, embodied prayer, warfare dance, prophetic dance, praise and worship dance, choreography, step, pageantry and flags and banners and much more. She has ministered and choreographed for national recording artists Kurt Carr and Brian Courtney Wilson. Additionally she serves as the TN Chairperson of the National Liturgical Dance Network. Most recently she became Connectional Director of Dance for the Music and Christian Arts Ministries (MCAM) Division of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.
She is the Founder and Director of Dance The Word Ministries, a unique combination of liturgical dance and therapy for self-report mood disorders, specifically designed for African-American women. Rev. Dr. Sarita focuses on self-care from a spiritual perspective and is a proponent of eradicating the stigma associated with mental health in the African-American community. She has a heart for journeying with clergy and women as they face the complexities of life. Her mission is to restore hope and bring healing to all.
In 2011, Rev. Dr. Sarita published her first book, “Dance The Word: A Handbook for Liturgical Dance Ministries”. She believes that dance serves as a powerful tool for healing, emphasizing that life continues to move forward regardless of the circumstances we face. Liturgical dance can be therapeutic, as it embodies the fact that in God, we live, MOVE, and have our being.
Rev. Dr. Sarita is a Board Certified Chaplain and a certified grief counselor. Currently, she serves as the Director of Spiritual Care at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and co-chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. Through her work in chaplaincy, she has become a valuable resource for the greater Memphis community, focusing on topics such as grief, resiliency training, cultural humility, self-care, and other spiritual care issues. In 2022, she founded Women of Color in Chaplaincy, a Sister Circle dedicated to supporting women in professional chaplaincy.
She graduated cum laude from Howard University and earned her Master of Divinity from Payne Theological Seminary. She completed her doctoral studies at Argosy University, obtaining an Ed.D. in Pastoral Community Counseling, with research focused on the impact of liturgical dance on self-reported depression and anxiety. She is married to Eddie Anderson III and, while she is a proud spiritual and heart mother to many, she also has two biological daughters. Additionally, Rev. Dr. Sarita is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.