Bernard Jordan: Does a
Prophet Grow in Brooklyn?
By William M. Alnor
The scene was a former theater turned church on Manhattan’s upper West side. It was Sunday morning and the television cameras were rolling. The preacher was making a point before his 500 or so followers packed into the structure.
"Pay your tithes and give your offerings," he proclaimed. "Your tithe opens heaven, and your gift on top of that showers you with blessings."
The preacher's name is Bernard Jordan, and he is the young founder of Zoe Ministries Church, which has relocated from its earlier days in Brooklyn to 310 Riverside Drive, not far from St. John the Divine Cathedral. And in recent years Jordan has become the controversial founder of an international movement that he claims will change the face of Christianity forever.
Like many charismatic preachers Jordan knows how to work his audience. This morning he had them repeating his slogans throughout his 4-hour service.
"Say `if I have not given tithes,'" Jordan thundered. "I have robbed God." His audience repeated the slogan three times. "When I give I will get," he thundered, adding that the consequences for not giving ten percent of one's income to the church can be disastrous. Penalties include anything from "premature death" to a boss not giving an expected raise.
Besides Jordan's relentless appeals for funds, he is controversial for another reason: He claims to be a prophet. He is every bit a prophet as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Elijah and Elisha was, he says. And through him God is restoring to the New Testament church the office of prophet, and that he has the authority to train numerous last days' believers into a "new breed" of super Christians.
He claims to be doing it too. In 1987 he founded the School of the Prophets, which is a seminar series he gives at his church and throughout the county. You can also learn to be a prophet at home. He offers to mail you his 9 taped video course and its text books to your home.
Jordan, an engaging young man with boyish looks, has become influential as well. He is seen nationally on the Black Entertainment Network on Tuesdays and Fridays, and his television and radio shows run in the New York markets through the "Power of Prophecy" programs. And national Christian leaders have taken note. As this article was being prepared he was conducting a three-day school of the prophets course at the New Heritage USA in Charlotte, N.C. Prior to that he was a guest on Jan and Paul Crouch's "Praise the Lord" show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and in February 1988 he addressed a special assembly of ambassadors and diplomats at the United Nations concerning South Africa. In May 1993 he received awards from New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former mayor David Dinkins for leadership and community assistance for establishing a program that feeds New York's homeless. Truly Jordan has been a man on the move, even preaching overseas in South Africa, Germany, Canada, Korea and the Caribbean.
But several months ago Jordan's ministry moved into another controversial arena. He claims to hold the office of bishop, and because of that he has the power and authority of the Apostle Peter. To underscore this Jordan's June/July 1994 Zoe magazine pictures him throughout the magazine as wearing a papal miter and a staff holding a large ring in his right hand that his followers are enjoined to kiss as a sign of his authority. He also has fused this new office of Bishop with a sinister message of black nationalism and racism.
"Our Bishop, E. Bernard Jordan, is able to trace his spiritual genealogy to the Apostle Peter, the first bishop of the church...he is now in Apostolic Succession," the magazine states on page 3. "Many so-called or bogus bishops are parading in the church today and these men cannot trace their lineage to the Apostles. If you know of a bishop who cannot trace his lineage back to the original then he must not be entreated as a bishop because he is not authentic."
What is the significance of the office of bishop? According to the magazine, "The bishop as a city father and gatekeeper determines what enters or exits the city or state over which he presides," the magazine claims. "He is the one ordained by God to maintain the highest spiritual and moral climate throughout the community. The church in the New Testament began with the father, Black men, who laid hands upon Paul, who because the Apostle Paul. He [Paul] was also a Black man as is evident in Acts. 21:37-39.... God is now restoring the Black fathers to the helm of the church so that it will again move in the right order as it was originally designed."
"A Bishop is greeted by a deep bow," it adds matter of factly. "Some even kiss his ring in acknowledgment of who he represents, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Kingdom of God."
