CENTRAL ALUMNUS LIVES OUT HIS CALLING

BY REV. BILL O’NEAL II

On the corner of North 7th Street and Wilkes Boulevard in Columbia sits an older, unassuming brick and mortar church that looks like a small castle. Although it’s 9 a.m., the homeless community has been gathering in the parking lot since sunrise, awaiting their turn to go inside for assistance. Admittedly, the neighborhood is not prime real estate, as many consider this “the other side of the tracks.” This is Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church, home of Turning Point Ministries, and the pastor is Central Methodist alumnus Rev. Brad Bryan, ‘04.

The church’s website states, “Turning Point, a United Methodist ministry, welcomes the help of those in our community no matter their religious or non-religious affiliation. Our mission is to promote and restore dignity and hope among Columbians who are facing the possibility of housing crisis or who are currently experiencing homelessness.”

The hope and prayer of this ministry is that a significant change will occur in the lives of its clients. What makes this ministry unique is that it fills a very specific need by removing the implicit bias caused by not having a mailing address.

“When you’re homeless, no one can find you because you don’t have a mailing address, and when you don’t have a mailing address, getting a simple minimum wage job is extremely complicated, so it’s harder to step up than we know,” said Bryan. “We provide an address, which empowers our clients to work with the Social Security Administration, Health and Human Services, the courts, and getting other forms of identification like birth certificates and driver’s licenses.”

It takes a team of five outstanding staff members to facilitate Turning Point’s other services, like important document storage, shower and laundry facilities, sock exchange, temporary storage for personal belongings for up to 60 days, internet and telephone access, employment and housing information, and prayer and Bible study. Clients are able to meet with caseworkers, tutors, life coaches and mentors.

“The staff’s goal is to move folks out of homelessness,” said Bryan. “In fact, I don’t want to see anyone come back for our services because that means they are on the mend.”

Bryan’s service to his community goes hand in hand with his upbringing, and, in turn, with his connections to Central Methodist. His grandfather, Methodist Bishop Monk Bryan, often preached during chapel and was a favorite keynote speaker at Central graduation. His aunt also graduated from Central in the 1950s, so he was familiar with the college. Bryan had an interest in the field of religious studies, and it just so happened that the department of philosophy and religion offered a chance to earn a full scholarship to Central.

While he was here, he was taught and inspired by professors whose influence stayed with him to this day, including O.A. Robinson, Darryl Jeffries and Ken Burris.

“I took [Burris’s] New Testament, class and we never made it out of the Gospels,” said Bryan. “He was in-depth, detailed. We stayed in the book of Mark for three months!”

Bryan also recalls experiencing a significant moment in history while at Central, and being able to process it with others in chapel.

“I will never forget 9/11,” he said. “The news channels were playing on the TVs all over campus. We needed comfort. We wondered how this could happen. We no longer felt safe. It happened to be Tuesday, so we all went to chapel. The praise band played music. Rev. Dennis Harper, our chaplain, and Rev. Daniel Hilty, the pastor of Linn Memorial UMC, spoke words. It was just a space to sit with what happened. It was a very significant moment.”

It was moments like that, as well as his time serving as a student pastor at St. Paul UMC and Lewis Chapel, that led Bryan to realize he wanted to one day lead a church congregation, even though he came to Central with the belief that he would become a religious studies professor. The congregations at the traditionally Black churches especially helped him experience raw, authentic worship.

“They poured their hearts out. They helped me to see what it means to be an outward-focused church,” said Bryan. “Worship lasted hours. I remember one particular Sunday that I had been awarded the Victoria Award for exemplifying the ideals of the institution, but since church always ran over, I ended up being late to the award presentation.”

Now that Bryan is an ordained elder in the UMC, he has been appointed to a number of good, healthy churches. Yet, he loves where he is now, at Wilkes Boulevard UMC. It’s not what would be defined as traditionally “healthy,” but he likes to encourage authenticity. In switching from a church restart to a mission church, Bryan’s organization asks what the community needs rather than asking how they can get people in the doors. And that starts with letting people do what they need to do.

“Just about every Sunday, I say, ‘If you want to snore in the corner because you’re tired, and that’s what you need, then do it. You’re welcome here,’” Bryan said.

BY SCOTT QUEEN