The Rev Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant: from G.E.D. to PH.D. and a global mission

Ebony, Sept, 2007 by Joy T. Bennett

In the vein of "call and response," Pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant says, "Somebody say, 'Preach, Black man!'" And the congregation does--by the thousands, many who drive from neighboring cities every Sunday to hear the dynamic young pastor from Baltimore deliver another incisive life message.

"I want to come to church," says member Shawn Wilson, who drives EVERY Sunday with his wife from New Jersey, an hour-and-a-half each way. "When I'm not in service, it feels like I'm missing a meal."

There's no spiritual famine at Baltimore's Empowerment Temple AME. Every week, Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant dishes up a spiritual banquet for his more than 11,000 parishioners, with three services on Sunday morning. And there's more. His Sunday services live; he has 150,000 Internet partners and more than 12,000 registered for his daily empowering text and voice massages. Although he is the center of much attention and expectation, his mission is modest: "To empower the world through the Word."

Only 36, he already has experienced the kind of ministry success that veteran pastors dream about. "I went from a Bible study in my home to a storefront church to a small church to a megachurch in seven years. I'm overwhelmed," he admits. "God has not only blessed me, He has spoiled me."

Radical, revolutionary, innovative, anointed and cutting-edge are only a few of the words that describe Dr. Bryant, who founded the Empowerment Temple AME Church in 2000 with just 43 members. Today, it is the fastest-growing church in the AME denomination. The church also has an elementary school, the Empowerment Academy, and there's a Family Life Center to serve the community. Dr. Bryant is also featured during broadcasts on TV One, the Word Network and Streamingfaith.com.

It is believed that the exponential growth of Empowerment Temple stems from Dr. Bryant's personal story of succeeding against the odds, including overcoming roadblocks that perhaps would have stymied any other potential pastor. Roadblocks like failing the 11th grade and dropping out of high school. He later obtained a G.E.D. certificate and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in political science and international studies from Morehouse College in Atlanta. Bryant later earned a master of divinity degree from Duke University in Durham, N.C., and in 2005 he received his Doctorate of Theology from Oxford University in Great Britain.

His journey from G.E.D. to Ph.D. also included becoming an unwed father before becoming a devoted husband and family man who strikes a chord with the community. "Every person who God ever called is flawed, and so many times we try to hide our issues, and then when they are exposed, we lose it all because we beat up everybody else who is flawed," he says. "We have confused servant with celebrity."

Candid about his past, Dr. Bryant challenges his congregation to "build a trampoline in the pit." He believes everything he has overcome helps him identify, and connect with his congregation and the community at large. "I grew up on The Cosby Show, but I can relate to Good Times. Everybody in my family has a doctoral degree, and I have a G.E.D. from the community college here and a doctorate of theology from Oxford, and that means that I can tap every person in between. I have a beautiful wife and three kids at home, but before that I had a child out of wedlock. That speaks to different facets of the community."

In Dr. Bryant's ministry, he pastors the predominantly unchurched, he says, as more than 60 percent of his members have no previous church affiliation, "or they have been away from the church at least four years," he says. "When I started the church, I wasn't even wearing suits, I was wearing throwback jerseys and Air Force Ones [gym shoes]," he says laughing. "I had to mature with my congregation."

And ,although he still preaches in jeans sometimes, his maturity is evident in his sharp, three-piece suits and fat-knotted neckties, a style he first noticed in London. He has two tailors, one on each coast, mid he travels in a dark green Bentley, which some observers note he drives briskly on Baltimore's highways.

In his sermons, the young pastor often uses hip-hop references, and he preaches about sexuality, relationship drama, drug and alcohol addictions and other social issues with the kind of straight talk that his youthful congregation thrives on. "He keeps it real," says Janelle [Peaches] Rollins, who has been a member of the church since 2005. "He hasn't forgotten where he's come from."

His Tuesday night men's Bible study class is so real that they call it "The Locker Room" for its frank dialogue. Member Michael Hamlin says the men call Pastor Bryant "an awesome man of God and the Prince of the 'hood. He's absolutely global." Dr. Bryant's growing popularity is evidenced by invitations that arrive almost daily, asking him to deliver the Word hi many places around the world. In recent months, he has been in pulpits in Africa, Paris, Australia, London and throughout the U.S.