Jamal Harrison Bryant
Jamal Harrison Bryant is an American minister, author and former political candidate. He is the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia.
Early life and education
Jamal Harrison Bryant was born on May 21, 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts, to John Richard and Cecelia Bryant. He has a younger sister. He was raised in the Westside neighborhood of Baltimore, 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."Bryant attended Morehouse College where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science and international studies. He obtained a master's of divinity degree from Duke University. He received a doctorate of ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation. Bryant is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
Ministry
In April 2000, Pastor Jamal Bryant founded the Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and served for 18 years. In December 2018, he became pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia.Politics
Bryant ostensibly ran for U.S. Congress in 2015, aiming to represent Baltimore, Maryland, as a Democrat. He suspended his campaign less than two weeks after announcing his run.In a February 2, 2025, service, Bryant announced a 40-day initiative to boycott the retailer Target for eliminating their diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments. 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.
AME review after divorce
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 future Real Housewives of Potomac star Gizelle Bryant. 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". 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 singer Tweet.Controversies
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, and further suggested that he wanted to grow marijuana on the land of the church to attract young men. Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr., pastor of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, said, "I’m holding out that this is like that Babylon Bee thing," but continued, addressing the likelihood that it was not, saying that "arijuana is not... a harmless drug... Depressions are up... suicides are up. It’s a gateway..." that "in and of itself is bad," even if not leading to other drugs, "ruining high school students, messing up their minds, messing up their development". He continues with what he perceives to be the spiritual implication, referencing Romans 1:28-32:we are witnessing... he worst thing that God can do... to turn us over to ourselves... or that means the Holy Spirit will no longer... bring any conviction".