The Reverend Matthew Lawrence Watley is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Kingdom Fellowship AME Church, headquartered in Calverton, MD. Kingdom has an active membership of over 5,000 people. In addition to the thousands that attend worship in person, thousands stream through the Church’s online platform nationally and internationally.
Under Pastor Watley’s leadership, the Church has completed several business transactions, including acquiring and developing a 125,000-square-foot office tower where it leases space to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other businesses, producing an alternative revenue stream to support the work of the ministry. The Church also owns a 12-acre office park in Calverton, MD, where he developed the state-of-the-art Kingdom Worship Center. Currently under construction is the Kingdom Cares Center. The top-to-bottom 100,000-square-foot renovation was fully underwritten from funds Reverend Watley solicited from the Federal Government and the State of Maryland. Pastor Watley also serves as the Chair of the Kingdom Global Development Corporation, which oversees these community outreach efforts.
Additionally, Rev. Watley is Chair of The Black Idea Coalition, whose mission is to fulfill the promise of diversity and inclusion by empowering organizations and institutions to achieve Black parity in employment, investment, and contracting. The Black Idea has developed strategic partnerships with several national organizations and businesses with a specific depth of practice in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It hosts a leadership summit where thought leaders speak about the trends and opportunities for advancing the prospects of the black business community.
A third-generation preacher, author, businessman, lecturer, and professor, Pastor Watley is nationally and globally recognized for his extensive work in ministry and his experience in leadership development. He served on a Special Commission sponsored by the Ford Foundation to evaluate Non-Governmental Organizations in the Republic of South Africa. Pastor Watley served on the General Board of the AME Church and the Board of Trustees of Howard University as a graduate student. Rev. Watley has spoken for Ch2Mhill, Prudential, Industrial Bank, The American Institute of CPAs, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, and the National Society of Black Engineers, to name a few. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He has lectured at other institutions of higher learning, including Howard University, Alabama State University, Wilberforce University, Cornell University, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Wiley College. Reverend Watley serves on the Board of Trustees at Wiley College and is a Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee member of EXIM (Export-Import Bank of the United States). Reverend Watley was recently bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award by the President of the United States of America, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., for his lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service.
