The Vashti Virtue is a brave and powerful memoir written by a preacher/pastor’s wife that shares some very uncomfortable truths that are seen in many clergy marriages. It encourages a facing of the ways individuals open doors to the enemy and how much destruction can follow in that wake. It presents a real portrait of how congregations can be deceived and sometimes destroyed by inadequate knowledge and obedience to the word of God. I feel honored to have authored this work because it is my story. I have written and rewritten the emotions as I came to understand and grow with them. I have matured in my faith and knowledge of God’s word as I reflected on my role in the drama. I am healed and giving God thanks on the way to showing my wholeness.
Edna Marie Brownlow Owens is a native of Mississippi. She attended Bowling Green State University, received the Master of Divinity (M. Div.) from Washington Baptist Theological Seminary and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Honoris Causa in 2015. Her career spanning more than 45 years, has consistently focused on serving disadvantaged populations.
Owning Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord, she is an anointed Exhorter of the Word, Writer, Teacher, and a respected Ministry Consultant. She is a gifted orator and a skillful handler of the Word of God.
She and Bishop D. Lee Owens served congregations in five states. They have three adult children who reside in the DMV.
A faculty member of the Washington Baptist Theological Seminary, she is the first female appointed as Dean of the W H Jernigan Chapel, and is on the school’s board of Trustees. She is a disciple of the Abyssinia Baptist Church.