Like Harvard, Princeton and many other colleges and universities, Daughters of Zion started as a Bible college yet since our inception in 2007, we have morphed into an institution that reaches many areas of individuals everyday lives. Daughters of Zion was conceived by two church mothers then in their mid 60s, Mother Mary Butler and Mother Marsha James. They were denied entrance into seminary training as young women in the 1960s but decades later they would give Pastor Dr. Gerald Kiner, PhD a mandate to help them create a school for women that would help women understand their Judeo-Christian roots, teach the Bible , and further assist them and the men they love to excel spiritually, physically, academically, financially, and socially hence Daughters of Zion manifested.
Due in part to the efforts of Daughters of Zion, between 2007 -2017 seminary attendance for women in the tri-state area ( Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi) has increased more than 1500%. The glass ceiling of traditional seminary attendance has been shattered, and more women (and men) flock to our doors with each passing year. While refusing to be a professional fundraising organization, Daughters of Zion has created multiple subdivisions from Williams and Johnson Career College, All About You Home Healthcare, The Golden Years Adult Day Care, and the Shalom House of Memphis for the mentally ill that have impacted and changed the lives of countless of women and their families for generations to come.
With new program and initiatives being added as funding and staff permits, current programs and initiatives address:
- Domestic violence
- Pay equity
- Increasing women in STEM related careers
- Spreading awareness on Alzheimer’s, which has a disproportionate effect on women
- Harassment
- Opioid and prescription drug abuse
- Elderly care
- Breast cancer research and awareness
- Work-life balance awareness
- Financial literacy (especially related to education, i.e. student loans)
- Human Trafficking/ Sex Slavery
- Rape kit awearness
Daughters of Zion is dedicated to being a change agent for women and their families.