CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1439943
16 Januar y 2022 B rian ompson is starting off the new year by continuing to settle into a new position with a new title. His new responsibilities include adjusting to a schedule that requires frequent transcontinental travel. A fresh start and life-changing circumstances? Hey, Brian ompson has been there before. He's quick to share that his inauspicious early years certainly were no indication of his current success. "I think the gi that I have is my experience and being able to communicate that," he said. "I just let it all hang out." ompson recently completed 20 years as the dynamic leader of Simon Temple AME Zion Church on Yadkin Road. He ended his tenure there last month aer being elected in June to the Board of Bishops of the worldwide African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. As Presiding Prelate of the Western Episcopal District, he's one of 12 people who oversees the general supervision of the church. It's an impressive title with responsibilities to match. But his story is also one of resilience, faith and the hope-restoring fact that struggles need not define a man's life. In fact, ompson's earlier experiences include bad decisions that today help others relate to his ministry. "I share that I used to be able to drink people under the table," he said. ompson grew up in a rural area in Chapel Hill, where he loved sports and the North Carolina Tar Heels but hated farm- related chores. He wasn't too fond of school either. "My grades would be good while basketball was going on," he said. e rest of the time he struggled with what he looks back on as likely an undiagnosed learning disability. While his eloquence and outgoing personality led to his election as student body vice president, he dropped out of Northwood High School his senior year when he realized he didn't have enough credits to graduate. "I had the gi of gab," he said. "But not the gi of grades." His parents, however, believed that "you either earn or learn," so he went on to earn a community college GED, then enrolled in St. Augustine's University in Raleigh. "e only school that would accept me," he said. "St. Aug took a chance on me when Meet Bishop Brian ompson Answering God's Call with the Worldwide AME Zion Church BY KIM HAST Y | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CINDY BURNHAM FEATURE