Jamal Harrison Bryant | |
|---|---|
| Church | New Birth Missionary Baptist Church |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1971-05-21)May 21, 1971 (age 54) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Spouse | |
| Occupation | Senior Pastor |
| Education | Morehouse College (BA) Duke University (MDiv) Graduate Theological Foundation (DMin) |
Jamal Harrison Bryant (born May 21, 1971) is an American minister, author and former political candidate. He is the senior pastor ofNew Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
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Jamal Harrison Bryant was born on May 21, 1971, inBoston, Massachusetts, toJohn Richard and Cecelia Bryant (née Williams). He has a younger sister. He was raised in theWestside neighborhood ofBaltimore, Maryland, where, as a child, he attended his father's church Bethel A.M.E. Church. He preached his first sermon when he was a child at Bethel titled "No Pain, No Gain."[1]
Bryant attendedMorehouse College where he earned an undergraduate degree inpolitical science andinternational studies. He obtained a master's of divinity degree fromDuke University. He received a doctorate of ministry degree from theGraduate Theological Foundation. Bryant is a member of theKappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
In April 2000, Pastor Jamal Bryant founded the Empowerment TempleAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church inBaltimore, Maryland, and served for 18 years.[2] In December 2018, he became pastor ofNew Birth Missionary Baptist Church inStonecrest, Georgia.[3][4]
Bryant ostensibly ran for U.S. Congress in 2015, aiming to represent Baltimore, Maryland, as a Democrat.[5] He suspended his campaign less than two weeks after announcing his run.[6]
In a February 2, 2025, service, Bryant announced a 40-day initiative toboycott the retailerTarget for eliminating theirdiversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments.[7][8] The original boycott was planned to run from March 3 to April 19, but on April 20,Easter Sunday, he announced that the initiative would now be indefinite.[9]
Officials of the A.M.E. denomination intended, as of February 2008, to enter into discussions regarding Bryant's leadership, following mutual filings for divorce by Bryant, his spouse, Hampton alumna and futureReal Housewives of Potomac star Gizelle Bryant.[10] However, they said that Bryant did not face a disciplinary trial because no one came forward with a complaint against him. Church officials said that Bryant "was never charged through the church system with anything".[11] In 2019, the couple briefly dated. Many speculated this was just to give Gizelle a storyline as Jamal remained in Georgia and was seen with other ladies, including singerTweet.[12][13]
In 2022, in Rashan Ali's "Cool Soror" podcast, he said he wanted to develop a "new gospel for adults" who are used to having sex (suggesting celibacy as a reasonable message for teenagers, but an off-putting one for older single adults), and further suggested that he wanted to growmarijuana on the land of the church to attract young men.[14] Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr., pastor of theUpper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, said, "I’m holding out that this is like thatBabylon Bee thing [i.e.,satire]," but continued, addressing the likelihood that it was not, saying that "[m]arijuana is not... a harmless drug... Depressions are up... suicides are up. It’s agateway..." that "in and of itself [it] is bad," even if not leading to other drugs, "ruining high school students, messing up their minds, messing up their development".[14] He continues with what he perceives to be the spiritual implication, referencing Romans 1:28-32:
we are witnessing... [t]he worst thing that God can do... to turn us over to ourselves... [f]or that means the Holy Spirit will no longer... bring any conviction".[14]