Baltimore pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant on Monday was named the new senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest. One hundred thirty-eight candidates were considered for the high-profile position, and eventually, the list was whittled down to only two.
The announcement, made from the pulpit of the DeKalb County church, was met with applause and a few gasps.
Bryant—a Morehouse graduate—is currently the pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore. Bryant will deliver his first official sermon as New Birth’s pastor on Dec. 9.
The search for a new senior pastor was launched shortly after Bishop Stephen A. Davis, who also pastors a church in Birmingham, Ala., resigned in June. Davis assumed the helm of the megachurch after the death of Bishop Eddie L. Long in 2017 from an aggressive form of cancer.