Radical, Revolutionary, Innovative, Anointed, and Cutting Edge are some of the words often used to describe Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant. Stepping out on faith, with the support of forty-three people who believed and met in his home for bible study, Dr. Bryant founded The Empowerment Temple. The first service was held on Easter Sunday, April 22, 2000, in a Baltimore City banquet hall. He prayed that God would send someone. In just four years, God directed the path of over 6,000 members to Empowerment Temple, the fastest growing church in the A.M.E. denomination. Today Empowerment Temple’s membership exceeds 11,000 members.
Prior to his role as pastor, Dr. Bryant served as the director of the NAACP’s youth and college division. A dynamic motivational speaker, he was responsible for over 650 youth councils and college chapters, representing over 68,000 young people in the United States, Germany, and Japan. During his tenure, he held the “Stop the Violence, Start the Love Crusade,” and organized the Historically Black Colleges and Universities speaking tour “Youth at Risk.” His contributions have been highlighted in numerous publications, including Emerge, Sister to Sister, USA Today,and The Source. Dr. Bryant has appeared on BET, CNN, C-SPAN, and Politically Incorrect. He also served as a panelist on the national town hall meeting “The State of Black America,” and “The State of the Black Church,” hosted by Tavis Smiley. According to Ebony magazine, he is one of America’s future leaders.
While Dr. Bryant has distinguished himself and attained great accomplishments, it is noteworthy that he failed the eleventh grade and dropped out of high school. However, he later obtained aGED certificate and went on to further his education. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from Morehouse College in Atlanta, and earned a master of divinity degree from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In 2005, Pastor Bryant received his Doctorate of Theology from Oxford University in England.
Check out Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant’s website at www.jamalbryant.org.
