Rev. Dr. Edith Robinson-Davis has been ministering in one capacity or another since she was a teenager in rural Virginia. She has been partnering with World Impact for 30+ years and is now a video instructor for our new Cornerstone online course offerings.
“I didn’t know what God wanted to do with me,” she recalls. “But I knew I loved the Bible, I loved the church, and I loved teaching.”
That love has carried her through decades of ministry. It wasn’t always easy being an African American female in church leadership, but her calling was stronger than any obstacle. As a child, she often felt “different,” set apart in her seriousness about the gospel and her devotion to Jesus. “I didn’t have anyone tell me it was okay to be different,” she says.
Today, she’s determined to be that mentor for others. “It bothers me when a grown-up cannot defend their faith biblically. That is painful. Because I know God is not getting the glory he deserves from their life, and they’re not fulfilling their calling, often because they’ve never had someone walk alongside them. We need mentors.”
About 30 years ago, Edith’s path crossed with World Impact’s Rev. Dr. Don Davis (no relation) at a gathering for Christians committed to community restoration. She remembers their first conversation as a meeting of kindred spirits: he, a biblical scholar who had just developed the 16-module Capstone curriculum, and she, an educated, impassioned minister “serious about the gospel and a love of Jesus.”
With The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) curriculum in hand, her adult ministry took flight. Over the years, she has trained nearly 60 pastors and lay leaders, many without formal theological degrees, who have gone on to lead churches, lead ministries, and teach others. Most of her earliest students are now ordained and lead congregations.
Her favorite curriculum? “Fight the Good Fight of Faith.” It’s the one she recommends for both new and seasoned believers.
“Once you step into Christ, you automatically become a target for Satan,” she explains. “The sooner we learn that, the better. I haven’t found a better systematic, effective, reverent, immediately applicable curriculum to help believers understand the war we’re in.” She says it’s the best tool she knows for grounding people in their identity in Christ, something God forges, not something we create for ourselves. “As long as my ministry continues, I’m going to stay with that.”
With no signs of slowing down, Edith’s impact has rippled through countless churches and communities. She’s living proof of what’s possible when leaders are equipped with the right tools, and why World Impact’s goal to train 10,000 more pastors and leaders over the next five years matters so deeply.
TUMI’s next chapter is about to unfold. Beginning in early Spring 2026, The Urban Ministry Institute will launch a new online version of its Capstone and Cornerstone curriculum—streamlined, flexible, and accessible to leaders anywhere God is calling them. And Edith will be part of that future. She will step in front of the camera as one of Cornerstone’s video instructors, bringing the same steadfast love for Scripture and discipleship that has marked her ministry from the beginning.
The little girl who treasured her Bible, the teenager who felt set apart in her devotion to Jesus, the young leader determined to teach even when it was difficult—now helping equip believers she may never meet in person.
Through this new online platform, her faithfulness will continue multiplying far beyond the reach of any single classroom.
“I don’t want to leave the earth until God has gotten his glory out of my life,” she says. And through her ministry, that glory is multiplying—leader by leader, church by church, community by community.
Read next: Shaun Estrada’s Story: Multiplying Leaders
