Jamal Harrison Bryant

Jamal Harrison Bryant (born May 21, 1971) is an American minister, author and former political candidate. He is the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

Early life and education
Jamal Harrison Bryant was born on May 21, 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts, to John Richard and Cecelia Bryant (née Williams). He has a younger sister. He was raised in 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 just a bean head baby 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 2002, 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.

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 two renewed their relationship and began dating.

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 wanted to grow marijuana on the land of the church to attract young people to church. Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr., pastor of the Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, criticized that project, saying that marijuana is a dangerous drug that led to depression and suicides.