Center for Continuous Learning

Rev. Michelle Nickens is the Pastor of Washington Plaza Baptist Church in in Reston, VA, where she has served since 2016. Michelle Nickens is a dynamic gifted preacher, an author, educator, and dramatic artist who believes that ministry must include honest engagement with the real issues of this world. As an author, playwright and actor she uses the liberating power of storytelling, drama, and the creative imagination as instruments of healing and empowerment. Michelle is the author of a one-woman play titled, “Running Days are Done” which is based on her recorded interviews with abuse survivors. “Running Days” has been performed at educational institutions, conferences, non-profit agencies, women’s correctional programs in several states. Her work has received grants from The Sister Fund, the Ms. Foundation, and Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Prior to her call to Reston she was Associate Minister and Director of Adult Education Programs at Metro Baptist Church/ Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries in New York City. There she coordinated and facilitated Life Skills Empowerment Programs for domestic violence survivors, and for homeless veterans. She was a co-founder of the CONNECT NYC Coalition to End Child Sexual Abuse. Storytelling was an important component of all of these programs. During that same time she was also a Teaching Fellow and Adjunct Instructor in the Integrative and Field-Based Education Program at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York.