Pastor Jamal Bryant, the lead pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is letting the saints have it over their opinions regarding his wife’s now-infamous formal dress.
The couple sparked controversy when Karri Turner Bryant wore a black and flesh-colored gown worn at the UNCF Atlanta Mayor’s Ball in December. Bryant decided to take a lighthearted approach to the conversation on church respectability politics, posting a photoshopped version of their outfits from the evening, including Turner in “church-approved” dress.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pastor Jamal Bryant (@jamalhbryant)
“Saints, y’all win… come on @mzkarribaby we now are church approved! Thanks to our new stylist @mannie_35 … Let God ARISE. Happy New Year, everybody. Let’s move forward with the whole armor of God. The kingdom has bigger fish to fry,” captioned the Pastor.
Bryant also aimed to let the conversation die down, emphasizing that the community has bigger issues to address. At his New Year’s Eve service, he called out the “false barometer of holiness” that people have placed on his partner.
But the continued chatter prompted Bryant to make another comment, albeit with more humor, to finally close the chapter.
Others weren’t quite ready to do that. Another clergy critic had harsher words for the pastor’s wife and her choice of attire. COGIC Pastor Bishop Patrick Wooden condemned the outfit, saying Turner looked like a “$2 whore” in the gown.
“And there is nothing classy about that. There’s nothing modest about that,” shared Wooden of Bryant’s defense of the outfit.
Bryant has yet to address Wooden and his remarks directly,.
RELATED CONTENT: Jamaica’s Consul General To New York, Alsion Roach Wilson, Has Died
