Louise Rita Dixon, known as Rita Dixon, is a retired ordained minister in Greater Atlanta Presbytery in Atlanta Georgia. She retired at the end of 2004 from a national staff position in the Presbyterian Church USA. Her ministry focused on increasing African American participation in the denomination and providing leader development to African American Presbyterian congregations in the areas of African American Heritage, Spirituality and Church Growth.

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During 25 years of ministry with the Presbyterian Church Rita worked with a number of ecumenical ministries to produce materials to enrich and enlighten churches and the denomination on the Black Church Legacy.  She worked with the NCC Joint Educational Development (JED), the NCC Black Christian Education Committee, the NCC Black Family Project, and the Black Theology Project to promote such resources as The Faith Journey Series: Christian Education and the Black Experience and New Roads To Faith: Black perspectives In Christian Education. 

 

She worked in partnership with the Religious Heritage of the African World (RHAW) at I.T.C. to design study seminars in Ghana, West Africa and Ethiopia for African American Church Leaders. She partnered with other denominational entities to provide mission and heritage experiences in Senegal, Kenya and Brazil for young adults. Rita also engaged in study seminars in Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the U.S.S.R.  She participated with Johnson C. Smith Seminary and the Reunion of Reunions Committee to celebrate God's gifts to the world through African American people and to work towards conserving the heritage of African American Presbyterians.  Rita has produced and published several ministry resources for the denomination.

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Rita is a graduate of Spelman College, Atlanta University, Harvard Graduate school of Education, Harvard Divinity School and an advanced Theological Studies program at Candler School of Theology in Emory University. Prior to Seminary she taught mathematics in high schools and a college.

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She has been an active leader for Justice and Spirituality, working with teacher unions, local and national Civil Rights organizations, and for ecumenical as well as denominational ministries. Currently she is seeking to discern and respond to God’s call in the seemingly midnight hour of American Democracy and the related Justice issues of a growing multi-cultural, multi-racial multi-gendered society.