Hey there! I’m Nicole Williams—
Founder, President & CEO of Selah Seminary
We exist to nurture the emotional well-being, spiritual restoration, physical health and leadership acumen of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists so they can effectively lead five-fold ministries, empowering a new wave of pioneers and visionaries as they guide the church into a future marked by holistic healing, spiritual empowerment, and societal reformation.
Since our founding in 2021, we have helped hundreds of ministry leaders clarify, operationalize, and successfully execute their purpose. Today, Selah serves as a non-accredited resource of theological education for five-fold leaders across the globe.
But our journey didn’t start here…
In 1994,
My grandfather, Kimothy Wilson, had a Saul-to-Paul encounter with God. After a miraculous encounter with God followed by six years of intense ministry training, he transformed from crack cocaine addiction in 1994 to founding Faith International Church in Rockville, MD (Lincoln Park).
His vision was to reach the nations of the world, beginning with his local community. Through his faithful stewardship, he led many to Christ, including my mother, Teresa.
Radically saved under my grandfather’s ministry on a weekend visit away from her corporate finance career in New York, she began to carry the same apostolic mantle of preaching, teaching, and evangelism.
An intergenerational ministry…
My parents, Sidney and Teresa, met in New York within the same year of my her salvation. My dad, having grown up in the holiness pentecostal tradition, was using his Wall Street Career to run away from God. On the fateful night he met my mother, she prophesied, “God’s calling you to be a pastor.”
Within one year, they were married, and under the leadership of Grainger and JoAnn Browning at Ebenezer AME Church, Oxon Hill, MD, they received a prophetic vision for ministry formation in the marketplace.
After nearly a decade of ministry training, they both left successful corporate finance careers to serve local congregations first in Cape Town, South Africa, and later in Morristown, NJ. Through their collective work, they facilitated community initiatives that served thousands: from food pantries, to back to school back-pack giveaways, addiction recovery, and much more.
For nearly two decades, their international ministry has spread through the church like wildfire with the “Fishing Differently” Movement. They have been recognized by leaders across denominations as pioneering leadership of 21st Century ministry. Best evidenced in the most recent case study from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity, “Feeding the 5,000: A Case Study,” the Williams’ ministry has revitalized communities across the globe.
Together, they have taught thousands of pastors, church leaders, and ministers how to innovate their ministerial approaches for greater social impact.
The legacy continues…
Following faithfully in my parents’ ministry, I began ministry at the age of 13, leading, preaching, and teaching in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC). The AMEC is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by African Americans in 1816, though it welcomes and has members of all ethnicities. The global membership of the AME is around 2.5 million and it remains one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world.
While I loved serving in the church, I also saw how the intense expectations and pressure of ministry weighed on our own family’s emotional health. I personally battled with depression, anxiety, and addiction throughout my time in ministry. Furthermore, I had many spiritual encounters of seeing angles and demons from a young age, it seemed the most advanced spiritual teachers within our denomination could not answer.
As a denomination that did not explicitly teach on the gifts of the spirit and the five-fold ministry offices, I wondered how to further nurture the prophetic and apostolic gifting I inherited.
It wasn’t until a series of radical encounters with God while living in Senegal, Africa, God began to reveal to me the relationship between fully embracing my apostolic and prophetic identity and walking in emotional health as a spiritual leader…
I could never be emotionally healthy if I did not embrace my full identity as His apostle and prophet in the earth…
At the root, it was the denial of who I was, and the lack of spiritual discipleship I received as a young prophet, that caused so much of the psychological, emotional, and relational affliction I faced.
An emotional health movement for ministry leaders…
So much of the emotional and spiritual torment ministry leaders go through, especially in the United States, is because we have rejected God’s design for church structure in five-fold ministry leadership (Ephesians 4:11).
People are dying in ministry because people are not rightly placed.
A pastor cannot lead as an apostle, a prophet cannot lead as an evangelist, if they have not received the grace to operate in that office. So much of my suffering in ministry was due to the fact that I was a prophet, later commissioned as an apostle, with minimal training to steward the grace God gave me.
I returned to the United States in 2018 with a new-found commitment to continue my healing and facilitate healing spaces for other ministry leaders. I created these spaces to help leaders across Christian traditions to take inventory of their pain and challenge areas of theological belief that were contrary to God’s Word.
Because I believe that every denomination sees in part (no one has the full revelation of who God is or how to serve Him), these ecumenical spaces allowed for a fuller and deeper revelation of Jesus Christ, and what it means to serve Him.
Sharing my testimony at conferences, in my local church, and online, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 100,000 lives, breaking traditional barriers of generational, denominational, socioeconomic, and racial division within the church.
The Design of Selah’s Pedagogy:
Prophetic Life Coaching
Due to the rapidly growing demand for support, I started a personal coaching and consulting practice to serve ministry leaders that served hundreds. With the increasing demand, I then launched my first group coaching program with the intention of refining the curriculum that would effectively raise up emotionally healthy prophets in the 21st Century.
With nearly 50 student enrollments who came from several different denominations (and non-denominational church affiliations), we developed an innovative pedagogy that effectively nurtured emotional health in five-fold ministry leaders, known as “Prophetic Life Coaching.” My team and I then formally designed the “Prophetic Life Coaching” Certification so that other Selah Coaches could effectively serve the ministry leaders we train with our innovative approach.
During this time, I also led and hosted within my own home our first, “Apostle’s House” pilot. The 12-month live-in discipleship program utilizes the Prophetic Life Coaching model to cultivate emotionally healthy apostles at an accelerated pace.
An ecumenical, international,
multi-ethnic movement
On the 30th Year Anniversary (2024) of my grandfather’s call to ministry, our ministry headquarters moved to Washington, D.C. returning to the DMV area to continue our mission to provide rigorous training, mentorship, and support to emerging leaders, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and spiritual insight needed to effect healing, empowerment, and reformation within their communities and beyond.
An Innovative Approach to Leadership Development.
Bridging Movements, Empowering Leaders: Nurturing Holistic Excellence in Ministry
Selah, meaning to “pause, reflect, give praise,'“ is often used within the Psalms to call the people of God to deeper introspection and meditation. We are a critical juncture within the body of Christ in which God is calling us to reflect on who we are and where we are going.
Selah Seminary serves as an integrative force, operating at the intersection of three movements (the Charismatic Movement, the Emotional Health Movement, and the Marketplace Ministry Movement), fostering a more holistic, interconnected approach to ministry. By doing so, we prepare leaders who are not only proficient in their specific domains but are also well-rounded, emotionally stable, and spiritually vibrant, fully equipped to bridge the gap between our glorious past and our more abundant future as Jesus’ bride.
The Charismatic
Movement:
Traditionally, this movement has emphasized the restoration and practice of the five-fold ministry gifts—apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists—as outlined in Ephesians 4:11-12. These gifts are seen as crucial for the edification of the church and the perfecting of the saints.
The Charismatic movement also prioritizes spiritual phenomena, including healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues, advocating for a revival through these supernatural manifestations.
However, a notable gap within this movement has been a lack of focus on emotional health and well-being, which can undermine the sustainability and effectiveness of ministry leaders. Selah Seminary addresses this gap by integrating emotional health strategies into the training of charismatic leaders, ensuring they are not only spiritually empowered but also emotionally resilient.
The Emotional Health
Movement:
This movement seeks to foreground the importance of mental and emotional well-being within the context of pastoral ministry. It emphasizes self-awareness, interpersonal health, and emotional maturity as foundational for effective leadership. Pastoral care, often neglected in broader ministry contexts, is crucial for personal healing and the fostering of healthy congregations.
One of the critiques of this movement, however, is its occasional underemphasis on spiritual gifts and the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit in personal transformation.
Selah Seminary bridges this by incorporating spiritual practices and an understanding of spiritual gifts into the emotional wellness frameworks taught to leaders, thereby creating a more balanced approach that harnesses both psychological wisdom and spiritual power.
The Marketplace Ministry
Movement:
Reflecting a reinvigoration of the apostolic calling, this movement extends the influence of the gospel into all areas of societal life, particularly the business and professional realms. It encourages Christians to live out their faith authentically in their workplaces and to see their professional lives as arenas for ministry.
The critique here is often a disconnect from the traditional church setting, which can sometimes lead to a dilution of spiritual vigor and personal holiness. Selah Seminary integrates holiness and personal healing into the training of these marketplace leaders, ensuring that their faith remains robust and integral, not only within the church but also in the broader societal context.
Your Path to Empowerment Starts Here
At Selah Seminary, we are on a transformative journey, and we invite you to be a part of our vibrant community of change-makers. Established with the vision to nurture and enhance the holistic well-being of ministry leaders, we are dedicated to fostering spiritual restoration, emotional resilience, and physical health. Our mission is to equip apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists with the skills and insights needed to lead five-fold ministries effectively and to usher in a new era of pioneers and visionaries.
Together, we can create a legacy of leadership that heals, inspires, and transforms.
Join us at Selah Seminary—where your ministry comes to life.
The 21st Century Apostle
From Coach to Consultant
Read the Prophetic Word.
The 21st Century Prophet is called to the ministry of Prophetic Life Coaching. The 21st Century Apostle is called to Consulting.
Learn more about how we are training consultants for marketplace dominion with our partner organization, also founded by Apostle Nicole Williams, Covenant Consulting Agency.
