As Supervisor/State Mother for COGIC’s SoCal First Jurisdiction, Mother Barbara Bryant leads women in fortifying ministries through prayer and evangelism
Barbara Bryant truly relishes proclaiming the power of God and she’s been faithfully spreading that message for more than 25 years.
An author, evangelist, mentor and motivational speaker, Bryant promotes the cause of Christ in various forums, across multiple mediums, to spiritual babes and seasoned saints, to whoever and wherever – she proudly displays her faith in the Living God.
Her bold confidence has aided many listeners of her speeches, viewers of her videos and readers of her books to embrace their faith and live intentionally for Christ. Now, she hopes to instill that confidence in the Lord in an even larger audience in her position with Church of God in Christ Southern California First Jurisdiction.
In April 2021, Bryant was appointed jurisdictional supervisor/state mother for the Department of Women by Bishop Joe L. Ealy, presiding prelate of the SoCal First. One of her main duties is instructing women in the jurisdiction’s 200+ churches to grow ministries through prayer and evangelism.
“My greatest concern is up-building of the Kingdom of God. I want to assist local pastors by offering training programs that women can implement in the local church, which will help to build the Kingdom of God,” Bryant said.
“COVID has given us a new opportunity to rethink church and ministry. To that end, my goals as supervisor are to triple the amount of time we dedicate to outreach to the community, help women continue to grow in spiritual maturity, and develop leaders and have a greater impact on the future generation of female leaders,” she noted.
Bryant brings considerable experience in guiding women to excel in Christ. She founded “Prevail,” a mentoring program that specializes in leadership and ministry development aimed at empowering women in ministry. One of her five books, “I’m Not Every Woman,” tackles issues surrounding identity, self-awareness, self-discovery and uniqueness.
On the global level of her denomination, she works as the administrator facilitator for marketing and public relations under International General Supervisor of Women Barbara McCoo Lewis. At her local church, Bryant is the president of Women in Ministry at New Antioch COGIC in Los Angeles, California where Superintendent Jeffrey M. Lewis is the senior pastor. In addition, she holds Associate and Bachelor’s degrees in journalism and a Master’s degree in communication.
Most importantly, Bryant possesses incredible faith in God and firmly believes God’s word in Jeremiah 29:11 – “I know the plans that I have for you …” She insisted, “I firmly believe God’s promise in that scripture and I desire to help others believe and apply that truth to their lives. My mantra is, ‘On the basis of what I know about God, I can trust Him with the things that I don’t know.’”
While her schedule is pretty full, Bryant still strives to have a sense of evenness in her life so she can devote time to her children, grandchildren and other personal activities. To achieve that status, she said, “I don’t think balance, I think quality. Balance is like thinking about tipping a scale one way or the other. If I work 40 hours, then I need to give 40 hours to my family too. If not, things are unbalanced.
“So, I don’t think about the amount of time I have with your family as much as the quality of the time we share. The Bible says that you are qualified to do ministry based on how well you lead your family (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9). Part of my job is to make sure that my family is loved, served, and cared for,” outlined Bryant.
“If you neglect your family for the good of the gospel, you are doing more harm than good, and your ministry will eventually crumble as your family life erodes. I also integrate my son’s in ministry. One is a musician; the other is a drummer. So, there are times they travel with me and support me using their musical gift,” she said.
To other who aspire to dedicate time and talents to a church or ministry, Bryant said timeless tips including be humble, be prayerful, be biblical and be loving. She also stressed the importance of being gospel-centered since the Gospel is the foundation of ministry.
“I also advise to be gracious because it’s by God’s grace that you can follow Jesus in ministry and be diligent because ministry is not for the lazy,” Bryant recommended.
“Be cautious because the enemy will be sending many temptations and distractions your way, be peaceful with all men, and finally, be joyful. No one wants to hear a depressing minister.”
Connect with Mother Barbara Bryant on Facebook: @ Barbarabryantministries, Twitter and Instagram: @BarbaraBryant and on the web at www.Mother Barbarabryant.com.
