Female pastor who accused Abyssinian Baptist of discrimination starts her own church in Harlem

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, July 23, 2026

Yale Divinity School professor Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman has launched her own church, just over a year after a federal judge dismissed her gender discrimination lawsuit against the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City. 

Marshall Turman’s new church, Harlem First, held its first gathering on Sunday, drawing about 150 people to The Ailey Citigroup Theater at The Ailey School, where she trained as a young dancer. She also worked as a dancer and teaching artist for the Arts-in-Education program at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation.

“Launching the Harlem First worship experience at The Ailey Citigroup Theater feels like a full-circle moment for me,” Marshall Turman said in a statement to The Christian Post.

“To be in a space surrounded by the spirit of my dance ancestors, including my beloved mentor Judith Jamison who led the company when I was a young dancer, while delivering a message that I hope was one of healing, revelation, and transformation, is so profound. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has made this possible, especially Sathi Pillai-Colucci and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation team.”

Marshall Turman is an associate professor of theology and African American religion at Yale Divinity School. She previously served as assistant minister at Abyssinian Baptist for more than a decade and made history in 2007 as the youngest pastor ever ordained there.

The new faith community will be built on spiritual formation, justice, hope and belonging, according to a press release. Younger believers took part in Sunday’s service, sharing what hope meant to them.

“In thinking about what we wanted this experience to be, it was so important to include our youth in a meaningful and impactful way,” Marshall Turman, who has three daughters, said. “To do so, they’re no longer only observers of the service, but their voices and presence become a part of helping to share God’s word.”

Until the church finds a permanent home, it will meet monthly. The next gathering is scheduled for September 2026.

In 2023, Marshall Turman filed a lawsuit against the 200-year-old Abyssinian Baptist Church and the chair of its search committee, Valerie S. Grant, alleging her application for the senior pastor role was rejected because of her sex. The church later hired the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson as senior pastor.

In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho of the Southern District of New York dismissed Marshall Turman’s lawsuit in a 19-page order and opinion, citing the First Amendment's "ministerial exception."

Ho agreed with attorneys for the church and Grant that the ministerial exception bars courts from entangling themselves in a church's affairs, even amid legitimate discrimination claims. The exception is a legal principle that prohibits courts from interfering with "the employment relationship between a religious institution and one of its ministers."

"To determine whether Abyssinian's proffered reason for declining to hire Dr. Marshall Turman — her lack of qualifications — is pretextual, the Court would have to engage in exactly the type of inquiry-based entanglement from which this Court is prohibited. Under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, it is not the business of this Court to question or otherwise look beyond Abyssinian's stated reasons for finding Dr. Marshall Turman unqualified to serve as its senior pastor," Ho wrote.

"There is no way for this Court to resolve Dr. Marshall Turman's employment discrimination claim without becoming entangled with Abyssinian's ecclesiastical innerworkings. It is therefore not premature to apply the ministerial exception at the motion to dismiss stage of this litigation. Accordingly, because the ministerial exception applies, Dr. Marshall Turman's employment discrimination claim against Abyssinian is dismissed."