Rev. Dr. Cecelia Williams Bryant – Trailblazing global minister passes

Dr. Jamal H. Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and his family announce the transition of Dr. Cecelia Williams Bryant. Dr. Jamal Bryant’s mother was a noted minister, author, organizer, feminist, and visionary global prophet. She passed away on Sept. 26 at the age of 77.

Affectionately known as “Rev. C,” Cecelia Williams Bryant served in ministry for over 40 years. Her work began in New England and spread throughout the United States, Canada, England, The Netherlands, Israel, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Guyana, Haiti and Nigeria. She established women’s resource and development centers and schools for children in both the United States and Africa.

Dr. Bryant was an author, an intercessor and a lover of children worldwide. She is founder of primary schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Grand Bassa, Liberia; and an orphanage in Mohotlong Lesotho. The Cecelia Williams Bryant Center, an early childhood development center in Seattle, Washington, is named in her honor.

She was a retired Senior Episcopal Supervisor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was married to Bishop John R. Bryant, retired Senior Bishop and Presiding Prelate of the Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church for 55 years. They served many posts around the globe including Bethel AME Church in Baltimore from 1975 to 1988. Over those years, Bethel grew to over several thousand members and an anchor in Baltimore’s faith community.

Along with Bishop John R. Bryant, she is survived by their son, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant, founder of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, and the current Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia; their daughter, Dr. Thema Bryant, former president of the American Psychological Association and a tenured professor at Pepperdine University; seven grandchildren; and a host of other family members.

The homegoing celebration is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, at Bethel AME Church, located at 1300 Druid Hill Ave. Baltimore, MD. The wake is scheduled for 10 a.m. and funeral at 11 a.m.

Statement from Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant

“We were blessed to share life with this anointed and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and liberated global citizen. Of all her immense talents and gifts, Rev. C was a powerful and committed intercessor on behalf of the poor and vulnerable. I am not the person I am today without her prayers and her love, which have been my north star throughout my life. If love alone were enough to sustain life, she would have lived forever but we trust God for His wisdom and praise Him for her life and her witness.”