Built From the Inside Out
- Lady Britt
- Jun 3
- 6 min read
How Overseer David Edwards III and First Lady Shanae Edwards of Divine Destiny Church Are Reimagining What a Ministry Marriage Looks Like
TWO CITIES, ONE CALLING
She was born on a Sunday, and that detail matters.
On May 15, 1983, at 2 p.m., her mother went into labor at church. “When I say I’m a pew baby,” First Lady Shanae Edwards said, laughing, “I literally—” She didn’t need to finish. Some callings begin before we are old enough to perceive them.
Lady Edwards was born to a bishop in the Church of God in Christ and a family that served for over 20 years under the late great Bishop G.E. Patterson. She gave her life to Christ at 7 and was baptized in the Holy Ghost at 16.
Years later, in 2001, after arriving at Tennessee State University, her relationship with God deepened through intentional discipleship, thanks to a local non-denominational ministry.
Lady Edwards had not anticipated falling for a percussionist from Decatur, GA. This unexpected connection would soon intertwine their paths and transform their lives.
Overseer David Edwards III did not expect Nashville to become his home. Although some friends attended TSU, it had not been his plan. Just weeks before graduation, his band director brought a group of 13 students, including him, to TSU. “The Lord literally used my band director,” Pastor Edwards explains. “That wasn’t even on my radar.”
He met Lady Edwards in Nashville during their sophomore year at TSU in the music department—a season neither had planned. Invited to a budding congregation, Judah Temple of Praise, they joined under 29-year-old Bishop Dr. Kelvin L. Leavy Sr., now the founder and Presiding Prelate of ENOCH365. They married two weeks after graduating and faced the same question.
Within a season, neither of them had designed—Nashville, Tennessee State University, and each other- Overseer Edwards found his calling at Judah Temple of Praise, where both of their ministry journeys began.
HOME IS THE FIRST PARISH
After moving to Murfreesboro several years later, Overseer Edwards’s belief in timing was tested. At one point, he suggested planting a church to Bishop Leavy, who told him to wait. “I said, ’Yes, sir,’” Overseer Edwards recalled. “I’m going to be obedient.” When the time finally arrived, it was simple—a Bible study, his family, and one woman who probably had every reason not to come.
“I preached to this lady like I was at MegaFest,” Overseer Edwards said. “You would have thought it was a million people in the room.” Two months of legal groundwork later, Divine Destiny Church launched on the first Sunday of October 2017.
Divine Destiny has a distinctive core belief—a healthy family builds a healthy church, and a healthy church can then reach the world —but for them, it always begins at home.
Before expanding or launching programs, Pastor Edwards grounds his ministry in this: “I’m a big believer that if home is not healthy, why are we running into the world?” Overseer Edwards says
And that question shapes how their vision moves outward: first family, then community, then the world.
"Before we try to go out and minister to everybody in the community,” he said, “let’s take care of those God has given us, whether we have three members or 13." -Overseer Edwards
THE FIRST CONGREGATION
“Within the past year,” Lady Edwards said, “David has actually sat down with our sons on a regular basis. He literally disciples them.” David IV, 13, and Daniel, 12, are their father’s first congregation. By his own reckoning, they are his most consequential ones.
“They are learning the Bible,” Lady Edwards continued. “They are literally getting it at home. We’re not just discipling the people in our church.”
The risk for ministry children is subtle. Psychologists call it “Identity Foreclosure”—when a child’s sense of self is set before discovery, and their spiritual stories are written by others before they themselves can lay claim to it. Too often, this is the case with preachers’ and/or pastors’ kids; they become a symbol before they become individuals.
The Edwardses prevent this for their sons. Both boys compete at the AAU level—David IV in basketball, Daniel in track—and are grounded by what’s poured into them. “They’ve never said, ’All we do is go to church,’” Overseer Edwards said. “That’s not the case.”
THE PRESSURE OF THE PUBLIC EYE
A version of the Edwards’ story—featuring a bright pastor from Atlanta, a striking first lady, two talented sons, a shared vision, and cabin getaways—would perform well on social media.
But the Edwardses are not interested in that either.
"We don’t live our lives to be public figures. We live our lives as unto God. (Col. 3:23). When you live a life of spiritual integrity — which means your private life and your public life are the same — you don’t have to be performative. You don’t have to turn the camera on and say, ’Look at us doing this.’" -Lady Edwards
They post on social media — a date night here, a movie there — but seldom, and without performance. Social media sits at the fringe of their relationship, opened selectively.
For Lady Edwards, the role of first lady was inherited, not chosen. According to Overseer Edwards, she is a third-generation first lady. “She wasn’t asking for it, but she now embraces it and does a great job.” He says.
THE DISCIPLINE OF REST
Rest for the Edwardses in practice means two annual getaways—July and the week between Christmas and New Year’s—with at least three to five nights away, somewhere requiring intent to leave: a cabin an hour and a half away, or another country, budget permitting. “It doesn’t have to be expensive,” Overseer Edwards said. “But it’s an investment in us.”
Once there, the agenda is simple: nothing. He prays outdoors, reads, and sleeps—and more recently is resting better than he has in years. “I’m sleeping better over the last six months than the previous five years,” he said.
EARNED TRUST
When it comes to sharing leadership at home and at church—the question of who submits to whom— Overseer Edwards offers an unexpectedly thoughtful response. He counsels newlywed men about marriage and what it truly costs to lead a woman who knows herself.
"Submission is very expensive… if you’ve got a woman of God who’s got a head on her shoulders, she loves the Lord, and she knows who she is — her submission is extremely expensive." -Overseer Edwards
He frames it as earned trust—built over time through character and consistency. “You don’t have to have it all together. You don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to have 18 degrees. But you have to earn her trust.”
In marriage and ministry, the principle is clarity. “Pastor doesn’t mean dictator,” he said. “It means shepherd.” Lady Edwards agrees. “We don’t compete for positions—we are one. We equally submit to each other and our callings.”
BUILT-IN ACCOUNTABILITY
This philosophy of clarity also extends into the church’s budget, and Overseer Edwards has built an accountability system around it that most congregations of their size don’t. A finance manager — their second-ever church member — handles the books weekly. A five-person advisory board receives a full quarterly report, with every major expenditure reviewed before authorization. “Accountability is key,” he said. “It’s very important.”
Lady Edwards, for her part, stays deliberate in her distance from the day-to-day numbers. “I stay out of it,” she said simply. But her confidence runs deeper — leveled in years of watching her husband lead honorably when no one is looking. “I see him behind closed doors,” she said. “He lives what he says.”
"Excellence is not a dollar amount. Excellence is about executing at the highest level on the level that you’re on." -Overseer Edwards
He speaks from practice. Switching internet providers to save $150 a month. Migrating their streaming platform to one that performs better at a lower cost. Leveraging relationships to close gaps that the budget cannot. “Use your relationships,” he said. “We did that for years.”
And then, with the quiet authority of someone who has watched others learn this lesson the hard way: “The last thing you want to do is try to impress somebody with money you don’t have. They will be impressed for three seconds when they hit the like button. But you’re going to be stuck with the bill.” A preacher’s pause. Then:
“I found out people will like your post, and in three seconds they forget — because they’re going to scroll to the next one.”
In the spring of 2020, the one-woman Bible study that became Divine Destiny Church confronted its defining test. A pandemic forced them out of the building they had borrowed from another pastor.
For 13 months — not one week skipped — every gathering moved to Zoom. The congregation went from roughly 10 members to approximately 25. The work of ministry rarely looks like what the congregation sees on Sunday.
“We are the church,” Lady Edwards says. “Not the literal four walls, not a building. We are the church.”
The statement often sounds like a mere cliché, but for the Edwardses, they certainly live it and arguably understand it more than most. They now offer us all a question and a point of reflection. Have you, will you, shouldn’t you, build your ministry from the inside out?
Divine Destiny Church is located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Overseer David Edwards III and First Lady Shanae Edwards serve under The Most Reverend Dr. Kelvin L. Leavy Sr. within the ENOCH365 Fellowship.
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