FirstLadyB | Connecting Faith and Hollywood
Jamal Bryant shocked the world when the news broke that he was leaving Baltimore and heading South to lead New Birth.
Bryant recently shared with AJC, that it was God that prompted him to leave the Empowerment Temple, a church he started 18 years ago.
“I had a sense of ownership that had leaped into entitlement, Jamal shared with the outlet. I began to think this (Empowerment Temple) is me, but God tapped me on the shoulder and said hold on. Not so fast.
“I had no reason to leave Baltimore but for the prompting of God,” he said.
And for those folks wondering how he can go from AME to lead a Baptist Church. Bryant said he talked with his dad, who is a retired presiding bishop in the AME Church. His dad told him that when God called him to preach “he didn’t call you to a denomination, he called you to service. That meant the world to me as a third-generation AME.”
Also, Bryant and the late Bishop Eddie Long, who served as Senior Pastor of New Birth until his death, relationship ran deep.
Bishop Long paid for the final two years of Bryant’s Morehouse education, and they are also members of the same fraternity — Kappa Alpha Psi.
“Bishop Long was larger than life to all young preachers,” Bryant shared. “I was not afraid of Bishop Long. I was an admirer and a fan.”
Dr. Jamal Bryant will preach his first sermon at New Birth on Sunday, December 9th at 9:30 a.m.
Check out his interview with Atlanta’s own Frank Ski on V103.
