Pastor Charlotte Strayhorne

Pastor Charlotte Strayhorne is currently serving in ministry as one of four Co-Pastors for Casa de Cristo Church and Apostolic Center in Phoenix, Arizona. An inner-city ministry that is Spirit led and Bible fed. She has been in active ministry for over 35 years. In addition to her work as a Pastor, until her retirement in 2023 was considered to be bi-vocational working as an Administrative Professional for a local university in Arizona. 

She is known nationally for her spirit filled preaching and extraordinary singing.  As a passionate community activist, she has led the GLBTQ community in rallies, meetings with public and government officials, and provided various levels of support for the disenfranchised. Her contributions for the community have been recognized on multiple levels including receiving the Martin Luther King Living the Dream award presented from the City of Phoenix’s Human Rights Commission in 1998. 

During the height of the AIDS pandemic Rev. Charlotte worked behind the scenes to help create various organizations that would minister to those affected by AIDS. She also served on the original Board of Directors for an earlier version of the LGBTQ Community Center in central Phoenix.  She was a guest contributor for the ECHO Magazine writing a featured article “What Does It Take”. She currently contributes to the webzine “Whomsoever” and writes a frequent devotion distributed to the members and friends of Casa de Cristo. 

Her passion for her community continues to grow stronger as she works with Casa de Cristo Church to build a youth ministry to meet and strengthen the spiritual needs of our youth. Her concern for youth and their destiny is fostered by her concern over the destiny of her 14 grandchildren. Rev. Charlotte has a heart and passion for justice and a desire to seek ways to make the world better for the disenfranchised and the lonely. 

As a graduate of Xavier University – Cincinnati, she received a BS Communication Arts – Public Relations. While at Xavier her focus included Theology, Philosophy, and Theatre.  

In addition to her pastoral duties, Rev. Charlotte continues to display her passion for the theatre by being actively involved in the community theatre scene here in metro Phoenix. She has been seen both onstage and behind the scenes with various community theatre groups including Hale Centre, Desert Foothills Theater, Theatre Works, Mesa Encore Theatre and B3 Theater.  

B3 Theater is a local avant garde theatre group that focuses on presenting plays by local and/or unknown playwrights. She has also  been behind the scenes at Mesa Encore Theatre as Stage Manager for productions like Peter and the StarCatcher  and A Chorus Line. In 2011 she was notably seen on stage as Calpurnia in the Hale Centre production of “To Kill A Mockingbird” where she received an ariZoni for Best Supporting Actress. In 2024 her skills in Stage Management earned her an ariZoni for Excellence in Stage Management.  

Rev. Charlotte has preached in pulpits from Indiana to Italy, Prescott Valley to Los Angeles, while sharing her love for God and for music. She plans to live to be 120 because there’s so much that still has to be done. She’s been heard to say “I’ve been running for the Lord a long, long time and I’m not tired yet. 

With deep family roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rev. Charlotte is an ardent Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati Bengals fan but her heart bleeds purple for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury. She enjoys encouraging others to be their very best as she speaks wisdom over each person she meets. Stay strong in your journey, stay true to your destiny because Eternity is forever.