Editor’s note (Sept. 23, 2025): Read “NYC’s Largest Evangelical Church Celebrates ‘Evolution’ of Leadership as Founder Installs Son as Senior Pastor” for an update to this article.
Dr. A.R. Bernard, 72, is set to officially install his son, Pastor Jamaal Bernard, as the new senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center (CCC) in Brooklyn, New York. The move mirrors a recent high-profile succession at The Potter’s House in Dallas, where Bishop T.D. Jakes passed on senior pastoral duties to his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and son-in-law, Touré Roberts.
The transition at CCC — a 40,000-member, multicampus megachurch — marks a pivotal moment for the institution Dr. Bernard founded and led for decades. Under his leadership, CCC became New York City’s largest evangelical church, widely recognized for its intellectual rigor, civic engagement, and cultural influence.
Beyond the pulpit, Dr. Bernard has long been a towering figure in New York politics and national discourse. A former banker and onetime member of the Nation of Islam, he briefly served on President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board before abruptly resigning over a “conflict in values” in 2017. Bernard, who authored the popular book Four Things Women Want From a Man, also led the Council of Churches of the City of New York, representing 1.5 million Protestants, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians. Most recently, he celebrated the birth of his 27th grandchild.
Pastor Jamaal, meanwhile, has played an integral role in CCC’s leadership for years, including tapping Sam Collier (formerly of Hillsong Church) to lead CCC’s Atlanta campus. According to a media release, he has served as vice president, chief of operations, and, since 2015, as senior pastor of CCC’s Long Island campus. He also founded C3, the church’s youth ministry — underscoring his long-term focus on engaging the next generation.
The parallels with the transition at The Potter’s House are hard to ignore. Both Dr. Bernard and Bishop Jakes are iconic, charismatic leaders who built global ministries alongside their wives. Both are now passing the mantle to children who have grown up in ministry and been found to be capable leaders in their own right.
Still, Pastor Jamaal faces the challenge of navigating the political and public leadership space his father so deftly occupied for decades in NYC, which earned him the NY Times title of “the power pastor.” Yet, his deep roots in the church’s youth ministry may serve as a key advantage: he’s already deeply connected to the generation that will shape CCC’s future for decades to come. His formal installation is set for September 19 at CCC’s Brooklyn headquarters.
These back-to-back transitions in two of the nation’s most prominent churches may reignite questions around pastoral succession and the trend of what some call “church dynasties.”
Critics insist that such transitions give the appearance of nepotism. However, others might argue that children of church founders often have unparalleled insight into the vision, sacrifices, and spiritual DNA that built these churches and are, therefore, best suited to pick up their parents’ mantle.
Ultimately, the leadership transition at the Christian Cultural Center marks more than a generational shift. It’s another chapter in a larger conversation about legacy, leadership, and the evolving future of churches that have long stood as vital pillars in the Black community.
Editor’s note: This article was written with the assistance of AI and edited by a human.
