The Rev. Jamal Bryant has broken his silence on the recent controversies surrounding him and his secret son. As previously reported, rumors surfaced that Bryant had a 10-month-old son named John Karston Bryant, whom the public nor his congregation was aware of. Last week, he took to Periscope to speak out. While he wouldn’t directly address the validity of the rumor because his lawyers had advised him not to, he did say:
Over the last week, a lot has been said and a lot has been suggested and like you I was thrown into a tailspin. I had to shut down for a minute so that my response would not be that of a man but be priestly as a man of God. To that end, let me say to you I am one of those rare people who are flawed with character. That with all of my issues I don’t run from them I stand right next to them. Those of you who have been with me you are fully aware that some eight, nine years now, I went through a divorce and claimed all of it my responsibility. The worst mistake you can ever make is to repeat the exact same mistake.
He continued,
The last time I went through something, I shut down, wouldn’t talk to anybody, tried to in fact deal with it all by myself but I understand that there is strength in numbers. The issues, pertaining and surrounding the allegations are in the middle of a legal discourse that preclude me from going into any depth to talk about it. But let me say to you, while many things have been said about me, running is not one of them, I stand on God’s word that he is my battle ax and my (sic) butler and I bear witness His grace is sufficient and his mercy endures.
My legal counsel says I cannot go through any depth talking about it but there is nothing that can stop me from talking to God. When there is something to be said you will hear it directly from me, you will not have to look for a secondary source. So I wanted to say to you in no uncertain terms, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support but I also want you to know that His rod and His staff, they comfort me. Keep praying for me and I’ll keep praying for you. I wanted to come on tonight so there will be absolute clarity – Sunday morning is to discuss Jesus, it is not to talk about Jamal. So when you come to church, get ready to talk about how great God is. And not the frailty of what Jamal possesses. Love y’all but I declare that God loves all of us best. Let me say to you in closing in case nobody told you, prayer still works.
A DNA paternity test result presented to Obnoxious Media showed that Bryant, who is the pastor of Empowerment Temple Church in Northwest Baltimore, is 99.9999% the father of John Karston Bryant, who was born on July 7, 2015 to a 34-year-old California woman named Latoya Shawntee Odom.
Odom revealed all to Obnoxious Media through a series of text messages – claiming Bryant had begged her to have an abortion fearing he might not survive another controversy.
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