A. R. Bernard

Last updated
A. R. Bernard
Born
Alfonso R. Bernard

(1953-08-10) August 10, 1953 (age 71)
Panama [1]
Occupation(s)Evangelist pastor, businessman, banker
Spouse(s)Karen, 1972-present
Children7
ParentAdelina Fleming
Religion Pentecostal Christianity

Alfonso R. Bernard Sr. (born August 10, 1953) is the founder, CEO and pastor of the Christian Cultural Center megachurch in Brooklyn, New York. In the 2020s, the CCC is a 37,000+ member church that sits on an 11+1⁄2-acre campus in Brooklyn, New York. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Bernard was born in Panama, the son of an Afro-Panamanian mother and a Castilian Spaniard father. [3] His father disowned him and in 1957, he and his mother moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. [3] His family was Catholic and attended Mass, but he eventually got involved with local Protestant churches. [4]

As part of the 1960s desegregation movement in the public school system, he was bused to school in Ridgewood, Queens and then attended Grover Cleveland High School. Bernard worked after school in the garment district pushing racks for $2.00 per hour to assist his mother in their single parent household. He landed a clerk position with Bankers Trust Company during his senior year of high school.

Bernard gained a Master of Urban Studies and a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. [5] He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wagner College and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary. [6]

Career

As a young man, Bernard was a part of the Muslim American movement. He became a born again Christian in January 1975.

In 1978 he and his wife Karen, started a Bible study in the kitchen of their Brooklyn railroad apartment. Bernard left his 10-year banking career in 1979 to go into ministry full-time, [7] and they rented a small storefront in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Later that year Household of Faith Ministries was incorporated. In 1988, Household of Faith turned an abandoned Brooklyn supermarket into a 1000-seat sanctuary, naming it Christian Life Center in June 1989, with a membership of 625.[ citation needed ] In 1995 they purchased a vacant lot adjacent to Starrett City and the church moved into its new home on December 31, 2000.

Bernard has served as the President of the Council of Churches of the City of New York, as well as the Boards of Directors for the Commission of Religious Leaders (CORL), the Brooklyn Public Library and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. [8]

Bernard has founded the New School of Biblical Theology in Orlando Florida and the Brooklyn Preparatory School in New York City. [9]

During the campaigning for the 2016 presidential elections, Bernard joined the board of Donald Trump's "Evangelical Executive Advisory Board". [10] The purpose of the board was to "provide advisory support to Mr. Trump on those issues important to Evangelicals and other people of the faith in America,” the campaign said in a statement. Bernard then stepped down in 2017 quoting a "deepening conflict in values between myself and the administration." [11]

In 2018, Bernard put forward a plan to build an urban village within the CCC complex. The site was designed to include over 2,000 apartments, a grocery store, greenspace, a trade school, a performing arts center and daycare center. Half of the apartments would be reserved for people on low incomes. [12]

Personal life

Bernard has been married to Karen since 1972. They met in high school when he 15 and she 16. [7] In an interview, he revealed that they were once headed for divorce because of some decisions that he had made and that he had made his "ministry his mistress". [13] They have 7 sons and several grandchildren together. [2]

His eldest son, Alfonso R. Bernard Jr., died from an asthma attack on 4 February 2015 at the age of 39 and is survived by his wife Janel and four children. [14]

Recognition

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary</span> Theological seminary in Massachusetts

Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical seminary with its main campus in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and three other campuses in Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Association of Theological Schools, Gordon-Conwell ranks as one of the largest evangelical seminaries in North America in terms of total number of full-time students enrolled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakewood Church</span> Church in Texas, United States

Lakewood Church is a non-denominational evangelical Christian megachurch located in Houston, Texas. It is among the largest congregations in the United States, averaging about 45,000 attendees per week. The 16,800-seat Lakewood Church building, home to four English-language services and two Spanish-language services per week, is located at the former Compaq Center. Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church with his wife, Victoria, who serves as co-pastor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Theological Seminary</span> Christian seminary in New York City

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University. Columbia University lists UTS among its affiliate schools, alongside Barnard College and Teachers College. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Despite its affiliation with Columbia University, UTS is an independent institution with its own administration and Board of Trustees. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree (MDSW), Master of Arts in religion (MAR), Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ), Master of Sacred Theology (STM), Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Warren</span> Christian religious leader

Richard Duane Warren is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. Since 2022, he serves as executive director of the Finishing the Task mission coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Howard-Browne</span> South African preacher (born 1961)

Rodney Morgan Howard-Browne is a South African-born American evangelist and a conspiracy theorist. He has resided in Tampa, Florida since the mid-1990s and is pastor of The River Church in Tampa Bay. The River is a Pentecostal church with revival meetings, led by Howard-Browne, known for those in the audience breaking into "holy laughter" and experiencing other pentecostal and charismatic phenomena. Howard-Browne is the head of Revival Ministries International, a ministry he and his wife founded in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Evangelical Divinity School</span> Divinity school

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is an academic divinity school founded in 1897 and located in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. It is part of and located on the main campus of Trinity International University. It is among the largest theological educational institutions.

Harold John Ockenga was a leading figure of mid-20th-century American Evangelicalism, part of the reform movement known as "Neo-Evangelicalism". A Congregational minister, Ockenga served for many years as pastor of Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also a prolific author on biblical, theological, and devotional topics. Ockenga helped to found the Fuller Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, as well as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Dever</span> American theologian

Mark E. Dever is a theologian and the senior pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and the president of 9Marks, a Christian ministry he co-founded "in an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America. Dever also taught for the faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and also served for two years as an associate pastor of Eden Baptist Church in Cambridge."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell D. Moore</span> American evangelical theologian (born 1971)

Russell D. Moore is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today, and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incoming Editor-in-Chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeson Divinity School</span>

Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an in-person, interdenominational, evangelical divinity school located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The current dean is Douglas A. Sweeney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Cultural Center</span> Church in New York, United States

The Christian Cultural Center (CCC) is a non-denominational Christian megachurch located in the Starrett City section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a satellite campus in Smithtown on Long Island. It is the largest Evangelical church in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula White</span> American television evangelist

Paula Michelle White-Cain is an American televangelist, apostolic leader in the Independent Charismatic movement, and a proponent of prosperity theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Graham (pastor)</span> American Baptist minister (born 1950)

Jack N. Graham is the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Morris (pastor)</span> American televangelist (born 1961) who resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct

Robert Morris is a former American televangelist pastor who founded Gateway Church, a megachurch based in Southlake, Texas, in 2000. He served as senior pastor at the church until 2024, when he resigned after allegations that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage College & Seminary</span> Canadian evangelical institution in Ontario

The Heritage College & Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Stetzer</span> American Christian evangelical (born 1966)

Edward John Stetzer is an American author, pastor, and Christian missiologist. He is Dean and Professor of Leadership and Christian Ministry at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He also serves as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. Stetzer is Regional Director for Lausanne North America and editor-in-chief of Outreach. Stetzer has written for USA Today and CNN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Jeffress</span> Pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas

Robert James Jeffress Jr. is an American Southern Baptist pastor, author, radio host, and televangelist. He is the senior pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas, and is a Fox News Contributor. His sermons are broadcast on the television and radio program Pathway to Victory, which is broadcast on more than 1,200 television stations in the United States and 28 other countries, and is heard on 900 stations and broadcast live in 195 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillermo Maldonado (pastor)</span> Christian Apostle

Guillermo Maldonado is a Honduran-American evangelical Christian, pastor, televangelist, and author. He is the co-founder and senior pastor of El Rey Jesús, a Nondenominational Christian megachurch located in Miami, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khader El-Yateem</span> Palestinian-American community organizer and Lutheran reverend

Khader El-Yateem is a Palestinian-American community organizer and Lutheran pastor. He is the Executive Director for Service and Justice at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). El-Yateem was a candidate for New York City Council in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "A.R. Bernard Sr.: Former Black Muslim Speaks About Hope in Jesus By The 700 Club (CBN.com), accessed 1/20/2015". Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-01-20.
  2. 1 2 "About Us". Christian Cultural Center. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  3. 1 2 Charisma News: "Once a Loyal Muslim, A. R. Bernard Now Marches to a Different Drum" by Herbert Toler Archived 2015-08-25 at the Wayback Machine August 22, 2015
  4. ↑ "A.R. Bernard, Senior Pastor, Christian Cultural Center, Brooklyn, NY". Church Executive. 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  5. ↑ "About the Founder". NSBT. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  6. ↑ "A.R. Bernard". A.R. Bernard. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  7. 1 2 Green, Penelope (2016-10-15). "The Power Pastor: How A. R. Bernard Built a New York Megachurch". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-12-11. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  8. ↑ African American Literature Book Club
  9. ↑ New School of Biblical Theology website
  10. ↑ "Trump's new evangelical advisory board includes Michele Bachmann". Religion News Service. 2016-06-21. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  11. ↑ BST, Harry Farley Tue 22 Aug 2017 11:31 (22 August 2017). "AR Bernard explains why he left Trump's evangelical advisory board". www.christiantoday.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Brownstoner website
  13. ↑ "Megachurch Pastor AR Bernard Reveals He and Wife Were Once Headed for Divorce". www.christianpost.com. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  14. ↑ Blau, Reuven (10 February 2015). "Alfonso Bernard Jr., son of longtime Brooklyn pastor, dies - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  15. ↑ New School of Biblical Theology website
  16. ↑ GoodReads website
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.