Dr. Carla J. Debnam has a Master of Science degree in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University Maryland and a Doctor of Ministry degree in Transformational Leadership from Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, OH. She is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). She serves as the leading lady and an associate minister of Morning Star Baptist Church, MD where her husband and pastor is Bishop Dwayne C. Debnam. Dr. Debnam has contributed to two books, Those Sisters Can Preach: 22 Pearls of Wisdom, Virtue and Hope, and 7 Ingredients To An Effective Prayer Life Series, Volume 3-5. Dr. Debnam is active in the outreach ministries of the church ministering to those in nursing homes and prisons and leads the women’s prayer ministry.

Dr. Debnam is the founder of The Renaissance Center in Woodlawn, Maryland and is currently on staff as a professional counselor. The center is a Christian counseling center that has been in existence since July 2001 and is an outreach ministry of Morning Star Baptist Church. She has written articles on mental health topics and frequently presents at workshops and conferences. Prior to working at The Renaissance Center, Dr. Debnam worked for the federal government for sixteen years. She is a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

In November 2005, Dr. Debnam along with two other pastor’s wives began the Leading Ladies Ministry (LLM). The mission of LLM is to encourage, embrace, restore and refresh fellow pastor’s wives. Ecclesiastes 4:12 is the foundational scripture, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. A triple braided cord is not easily broken”. (NLT) She was licensed to preach the Gospel in June 2006 and ordained in June 2013.

Dr. Debnam is a native of Washington, DC. She is the proud mother of Corey, Jewell and Jared and grandmother of Courtney. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling and baking. She stands on the promise of Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. (NIV)