Jamal Harrison Bryant (born May 21, 1971) is an American pastor, author, and social activist based in Stonecrest, Georgia. He leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, one of the largest Black congregations in the country, and has spent three decades mixing pulpit ministry with public activism on issues from voter rights to police violence. Bryant is also known outside church circles for his years on The Real Housewives of Potomac storyline through his ex-wife, Gizelle Bryant, and for his 2024 marriage to Dr. Karri Turner.
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jamal Harrison Bryant |
| Born | May 21, 1971, Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Age | 55 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in – 6 ft 3 in (approx. 1.90 m) |
| Spouse | Gizelle Graves (m. 2002; div. 2009); Dr. Karri Turner (m. 2024) |
| Children | Five, including three daughters with Gizelle Bryant (Grace, Angel, Adore) and a son, John Karston, born in 2016 |
| Parents | Bishop John Richard Bryant (father); Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant (mother) |
| Education | |
| Undergraduate | Morehouse College, political science and international studies (1994) |
| Graduate | Duke University, Master of Divinity (2005) |
| Doctorate | Graduate Theological Foundation, Doctor of Ministry (2005) |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Senior Pastor |
| Church | New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Stonecrest, Georgia |
| Denomination | Baptist (formerly African Methodist Episcopal) |
| Since | December 2018 |
| Career | |
| Reported monthly income | Approximately $46,000 (per 2024 court filing) |
| Estimated net worth | Roughly $500,000 (estimates across sources range from $500,000 to $3 million) |
Early Life and Background
Jamal Harrison Bryant was born on May 21, 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in a home built entirely around church work. His father, Bishop John Richard Bryant, rose to become a senior bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother, Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant, was an author and minister in her own right. His grandfather, Harrison Bryant, was also an AME bishop, which makes Jamal a third-generation preacher.
The family later moved to Baltimore’s Westside neighborhood, where young Bryant grew up attending his father’s congregation, Bethel AME Church. Preaching wasn’t a career choice he stumbled into. It was the family business, and he was groomed for it from childhood.
Education
Bryant earned his undergraduate degree in political science and international studies from Morehouse College in 1994, graduating from one of the country’s most respected historically Black colleges. He went on to Duke University, where he completed a Master of Divinity, and finished his Doctor of Ministry at the Graduate Theological Foundation in 2005. He also studied briefly at Oxford. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
Ministry and Career
NAACP and Early Activism
Before he built his own pulpit, Bryant spent six years as the national youth and college director of the NAACP, where he organized nonviolent campaigns involving roughly 70,000 young people. That role shaped the pattern that has defined his ministry ever since: preaching and protest, held together in the same hand.
Founding Empowerment Temple
In April 2000, Bryant founded Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, starting with a small congregation. Over 18 years, he grew it into a congregation of roughly 10,000 members, one of the fastest-growing AME churches in the country. Empowerment Temple became known for combining traditional AME worship with a heavy emphasis on civic engagement.
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church
In December 2018, Bryant left Baltimore to take the pulpit at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia. The move meant leaving the AME denomination he’d been raised in for Baptist leadership, a rare crossover for a pastor of his profile. New Birth had been through a difficult stretch. Bishop Eddie Long led the church for three decades until his death in 2017, and Stephen Davis, who briefly took over, resigned in 2018. Bryant stepped into a congregation that needed stability and a clear direction.
[IMAGE: New Birth Missionary Baptist Church exterior, Stonecrest Georgia]
Since taking over, he’s pushed the church toward community programs: feeding initiatives, scholarships, and job placement services, alongside a heavy digital media presence that keeps his sermons circulating well past Sunday morning.
Political Run
In 2015, Bryant announced a run for the U.S. House seat representing Baltimore as a Democrat. He suspended the campaign less than two weeks after launching it, one of the shorter-lived congressional bids of that cycle.
Rise to Prominence and Activism
Bryant became a nationally recognized voice after the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. He stood alongside Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, at multiple public events and became one of the more visible clergy faces connected to the broader push for police accountability that grew into the modern civil rights movement of the 2010s. He’s continued that pattern at New Birth, more recently telling his congregation to redirect tithes toward families affected by the 2025 government shutdown’s impact on SNAP benefits, and leading a public boycott campaign against Target over its diversity policy rollbacks.
Personal Life
Marriage to Gizelle Bryant
Bryant married Gizelle Graves in 2002. The couple had three daughters together: Grace, and twins Angel and Adore. Gizelle later became a household name through her role on The Real Housewives of Potomac, where their marriage and its collapse became a recurring storyline. The couple divorced in 2009, following public allegations of infidelity on Bryant’s part.
Marriage to Dr. Karri Turner
Bryant announced his engagement to Dr. Karrianna “Karri” Turner on May 28, 2024, during a Sunday service at New Birth, telling the congregation she would become the church’s first lady. The couple married on November 14, 2024, at the Waldorf Astoria in Atlanta. Both broke from tradition at the ceremony: Turner wore a pink, crystal-embellished jumpsuit instead of a white gown, switching into a white dress for the reception, while Bryant wore a deep green suit with sequin detailing.
[IMAGE: Pastor Jamal Bryant and Dr. Karri Turner at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church]
Dr. Turner holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Morris Brown College and a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She’s an ordained clergywoman, author, and entrepreneur who runs the online boutique Shop180West and leads two mentorship initiatives for women, Life Behind The Collar and The NUDGE Mentorship Initiative. There’s roughly a five-year age gap between the couple, with Turner slightly older.
Children
Bryant has five known children. His oldest daughter, Topaz, was born in 1998 to Crystal Madison, before his marriage to Gizelle. He and Gizelle had three daughters: Grace, born 2004, and twins Angel and Adore, born 2006. He also has a son, John Karston Bryant, born in 2016, with Latoya Odom. In 2024, Odom filed to increase her monthly child support, which is when Bryant’s $46,000 monthly income became public record. Bryant has said publicly that he won’t comment on children he “did not give birth to,” referring to unverified claims of additional children that have circulated online but haven’t been confirmed.
Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Bryant preaches in a style rooted in the Black church tradition: high energy, culturally fluent, and unafraid to name current events by their real names from the pulpit. New Birth blends traditional gospel worship with contemporary production, and Bryant has been open about wanting the church to speak directly to economic empowerment, not just personal salvation. He frequently ties Scripture to social conditions, arguing that faith without civic engagement falls short of the Gospel’s demands.
Influence and Legacy
Bryant’s reach goes past a single congregation. He’s one of the more recognizable Black pastors in American media, moving comfortably between the pulpit, cable news, and social platforms. New Birth’s membership numbers in the tens of thousands, and Bryant’s sermons regularly circulate well beyond Georgia through YouTube and church broadcast networks. His activism, particularly around the Trayvon Martin case and later economic boycotts, has placed him inside the same conversation as figures like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, even as some critics argue his approach leans more toward media attention than lasting policy change.
Criticism and Controversies
Bryant’s career has drawn steady criticism alongside its highs. In 2014, he faced backlash for quoting a Chris Brown lyric during a sermon about loyalty, which critics called tone-deaf and misogynistic toward women in his congregation. His 2009 divorce from Gizelle Bryant, and the public allegations of infidelity and additional children that followed, damaged his credibility with parts of the AME community at the time. His 2024 child support dispute with Latoya Odom put his finances under public scrutiny.
More recently, in early 2026, Dr. Karri Turner’s outfit at a public gala drew widespread online criticism, and Bryant defended her from the pulpit. Some Christian commentators argued the incident, paired with his earlier comments about churches entering the marijuana business, distracted from his ministry’s core mission. Bryant has generally responded to criticism directly rather than avoiding it, telling followers he’d rather be talked about than ignored.
Net Worth and Financial Information
Estimates of Bryant’s net worth vary widely across sources, from roughly $500,000 to as high as $3 million. Celebrity Net Worth places the figure at approximately $500,000. A 2024 child support hearing revealed his monthly income at $46,000, drawn from his church salary, book royalties, speaking engagements, and media appearances. Compared to megachurch pastors like T.D. Jakes or Joel Osteen, Bryant’s reported wealth is modest, and exact church salary figures remain private.
Interesting Facts
- Bryant is a third-generation preacher. His grandfather and father were both AME bishops.
- He spent a year in West Africa in 1988 before starting college.
- He grew Empowerment Temple from a founding congregation of roughly 40 members to about 10,000 over 18 years.
- He suspended a run for U.S. Congress less than two weeks after announcing it in 2015.
- He left the AME denomination he was raised in to lead a Baptist megachurch, a move that surprised many in his home denomination.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1971 | Born May 21 in Boston, Massachusetts |
| 1988 | Spends a year in West Africa |
| 1994 | Graduates from Morehouse College |
| 1998 | First daughter, Topaz, born |
| 2000 | Founds Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore |
| 2002 | Marries Gizelle Graves |
| 2004–2006 | Daughters Grace, Angel, and Adore born |
| 2005 | Completes MDiv at Duke University and DMin at the Graduate Theological Foundation |
| 2009 | Divorces Gizelle Bryant |
| 2012 | Becomes a national voice in the Trayvon Martin case |
| 2015 | Announces, then suspends, a run for U.S. Congress |
| 2016 | Son John Karston Bryant born |
| 2018 | Named senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church |
| 2024 | Marries Dr. Karri Turner at the Waldorf Astoria, Atlanta |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jamal Bryant married to now?
Bryant is married to Dr. Karri Turner. The couple wed on November 14, 2024, and Turner serves as first lady of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
How many times has Jamal Bryant been married?
Twice. He was first married to Gizelle Graves from 2002 to 2009, and he married Dr. Karri Turner in 2024.
What is the age difference between Jamal Bryant and his wife?
Karri Turner is a few years older than Bryant. Reports place the gap at roughly four to five years.
How many children does Jamal Bryant have?
He has five known children: daughter Topaz, three daughters with Gizelle Bryant (Grace, Angel, and Adore), and a son, John Karston, born in 2016.
What is Jamal Bryant’s net worth?
Estimates range from about $500,000 to $3 million, with most current sources settling around $500,000.
What church does Jamal Bryant pastor?
He’s senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, a role he’s held since December 2018.
Who was pastor of New Birth before Jamal Bryant?
Bishop Eddie Long led New Birth for about three decades until his death in 2017. Stephen Davis briefly succeeded him before resigning in 2018, when Bryant took over.
What did Jamal Bryant say about his wife’s dress?
After Dr. Karri Turner’s outfit at a public gala drew criticism online, Bryant defended her publicly from the pulpit, addressing the backlash directly rather than staying silent on it.
What is Jamal Bryant’s nationality?
He’s American, born in Boston, Massachusetts.
How old is Jamal Bryant?
Born May 21, 1971, Bryant is 55 years old as of 2026.
