Alfonso R. Bernard Sr. (born August 10, 1953) is the founder, CEO and pastor of the

Christian Cultural Center 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 Evangeli ...

megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. In the 2020s, the CCC is a 37,000+ member church that sits on an -acre campus in Brooklyn, New York.

Early life and education

Bernard was born in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, the son of an

Afro-Panamanian Afro-Panamanians are Panamanians of African descent. The population can be mainly broken into two categories: "Afro-Colonials", those descended from slaves brought to Panama during the colonial period; and "Afro-Antilleans", West Indian immigran ...

mother and a Castilian

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

father.Charisma News: "Once a Loyal Muslim, A. R. Bernard Now Marches to a Different Drum" by Herbert Toler
August 22, 2015 His father disowned him and in 1957, he and his mother moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of

. His family was

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and attended

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, but he eventually got involved with local

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches. As a young man, Bernard was a part of the Black Muslim movement. He became a

born-again Christian To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

in January 1975. 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 Alliance Theological Seminary was an evangelical Christian seminary affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, last located in Manhattan. It operated from 1882 to 2023. History The seminary had roots from the Missionary Training Inst ...

. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from

Wagner College Wagner College is a private university in Staten Island, New York. It was established in 1883 and, as of the 2023–2024 academic year, it enrolled approximately 1,932 students, including 1,592 undergraduates and 340 graduates. Its theatre prog ...

and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary.

Career

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, and they rented a small storefront in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East ...

. 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. In 1995 they purchased a vacant lot adjacent to

Starrett City Starrett City (also known as the Spring Creek Towers) is a housing development in the Spring Creek section of East New York in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula on the north shore of Jamaica Bay, bounded by Fr ...

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. Bernard has founded the New School of Biblical Theology in Orlando Florida and the Brooklyn Preparatory School in New York City. During the campaigning for the 2016 presidential elections, Bernard joined the board of Donald Trump's "Evangelical Executive Advisory Board". 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." 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.

Personal life

Bernard has been married to Karen since 1972. They met in high school when he 15 and she 16. 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". They have 7 sons and several grandchildren together. 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.

Recognition

*In 2018, he was recognised as one of New York’s 50 Most Powerful People in Brooklyn by City & State *In 2016 the New York Times recognised him as The Power Pastor *In 2007 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Consulate General of Israel in New York

Published works

*''Happiness Is'' (Touchstone, 2011) *''Chasing Donkeys: Finding God's Purpose at the Crossroads of Everyday Life'' (2013) *''Four Things Women Want from a Man'' (Howard Books, 2017)GoodReads website
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References

External links

Christian Cultural Center's official website

A.R. Bernard's official website

"The Influentials: Religion"
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, A. R. American Christian clergy People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Panamanian emigrants to the United States 1953 births Living people Former Roman Catholics