The Reverend Dr. Deborah K. Blanks made history upon her appointment by Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister, Sr. as the pastor of the venerable flagship church, Saint James African Methodist Episcopal Church, Atlantic City, New Jersey.as the first woman to serve as pastor and the first woman in the New Jersey Annual Conference to be appointed to the first church on a Presiding Elder District. She is an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her spiritual roots were nurtured in the Christian faith at Saint James AME Church in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of nineteen, she accepted her call to ministry and pursued theological education immediately after graduating from college.  Her professional journey of ministry began as an active-duty United States Navy chaplain in which she was stationed at the following commands:  Navy Chaplains’ School, Newport, Rhode Island; Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia; Recruit Training Command, Orlando, Florida, and the United States Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  After serving in the Navy for 10 years, 3 months and 28 days, she was honorably discharged and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Re-entering the civilian world opened many doors of opportunity; thus, she successfully competed for an assistant university chaplain post at Brown University, Providence Rhode Island and served there with distinction. Rev. Dr. Deborah's continuing call to fulfill her ministry in the academy led her to pursue and be appointed the first African American female assistant dean of religious life and the chapel at Princeton University. During her tenure at Princeton, she was promoted to associate dean of religious life and the chapel. After many years of service, she transitioned from Princeton University into the next new future – pastoring in the AME Church and received pastoral appointments to serve as pastor of Allen AME Church, White Plains, New York and historic Mount Pisgah AME Church, Princeton, New Jersey. The call upon her life has always been to make her calling and election sure and she continues to do so through preaching, teaching, leading, and seeking to be God's ambassador in the church and the world.

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Dr. Blanks earned a B.A. degree in political science from Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and the M. Div. (Master of Divinity) degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta Georgia. During her Navy years, she was among a select group of Navy chaplains chosen to pursue postgraduate study and earned the Th. M. (Master of Theology) degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2014, she was awarded the Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey with a concentration in Worship, Spirituality and Preaching.

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She has been a recipient of military honors and civilian awards for outstanding service. Her military decorations and civilian awards include the following:  Navy Commendation Medal; Navy Achievement Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Meritorious Unit Citation; James H. Clark Memorial Preaching Award; Bishop Henry McNeil Turner Award; Wayman-Day Honor Award; Women’s History Week Award; and Outstanding Young Women of America Award. She was inducted into the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Blanks was featured in Jet and Ebony magazines during her naval career. Additionally, she was spotlighted in a Ebony magazine as one among eight African American chaplains serving as religious leaders and pastors at Ivy League institutions. While serving at Princeton University, Rev. Dr. Blanks was appointed by Governor Chris Christy to serve as a commissioner of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission for the State of New Jersey. 

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A respected clergy professional in university chaplaincy, Dr. Blanks was the first African American female elected president of the Association for College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA), which was a national ecumenical and interfaith collegium of deans of religious life, chaplains, and directors and coordinators of religious affairs representing over forty institutions of higher education..

Dr. Blanks was the first non-pastor to serve as the Dean of the New Jersey Annual Conference AME Church Ministerial Institute from 2009-2015, the gateway for preparing persons pursuing ministry as itinerant and local ministers as well as evangelists for service in the AME Church. She completed a clinical pastoral education residency program at Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, New York, which allows her to serve as a clinically trained chaplain. Dr. Deborah is a proud member of the illustrious sisterhood of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

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The verse from Scripture guiding her ministry is “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." II Corinthians 4:7