pastor a gregory jackson
Rev. A Gregory Jackson is the Lead for YDH's Bringing Christ to The Community Advocacy Project.
Following is the featured Destiny Spotlight interview provided in our April 2021 newsletter.
Reverend A Gregory Jackson is the Pastor of Providence Baptist Church of Germantown. Described as hardworking and compassionate, Pastor Jackson has a strong work ethic, and is passionate about bringing Christ into the community. He is one of Philadelphia’s most sought after speakers who encourages his audiences to embrace their purpose and pursue their destiny. Pastor Jackson believes people should live their life as they are called to, and that serving others will help them reach their calling. Pastor Jackson shared the following insights on his life, family, and God.
Destiny is the pursuit of your sweet spot in life by following what makes you come alive. We are always striving toward our destiny. Just being able to wake up every day is a blessing. However, when our lives here on earth are over, we will finally reach our true destiny. My individual professions tie into my destiny of someone who serves people in different capacities and who seeks to show God in every facet of life. Most people would be surprised to know that I am a true introvert, quiet and observant. I find joy in life, my family, and my children. I enjoy people and nature; they’re beautiful. I also enjoy food and movies.
I wear multiple professional hats: Ordained Minister, Church Pastor, Entrepreneur, Maintenance Technician, and Mortician. While I’ve had many mentors in all of my fields of work, my life skills have led me to my life’s work. I was always interested in construction. As a child there was a handyman named Mike who was doing work in our home. He hired me to work with him in my house, which eventually led to my interest in construction. I was also curious about the dead and providing comfort to grieving families which ultimately led to my interest in
mortician science.
God called me into the ministry at the age of 14, which was when I gave my first sermon. This allowed me to serve in the church from the back pew to the pulpit. I was an usher, I sang in the choir, and then God commissioned me to preach. I faced difficulties, challenges, and plenty of obstacles along the way. Some were bad personal choices, some directional challenges, some were political oppositions, peer pressure, and some were people who were just mean and wanted to get in my way. Through it all, God always provided and confirmed His Word to me about what He had anointed me to do.
In my work, I seek to bring Christ into communities by identifying needs in targeted areas and helping fulfill them by connecting people with their desired resources. My mission is having people walk in the boldness of who they are, and as they see their needs being met, their faith in God will grow and hopefully they will have a renewed view of Christians and of the church.
Black Lives Matter, and now we understand how people will treat us the same way we treat ourselves. As a mortician and pastor, I’ve seen how gun violence has impacted our families and our communities. We all have a responsibility with the gun violence in this city. There is no reason why our kids should have guns. Parents, we need to raise our children. When there is no accountability in our homes, our kids will do whatever they want to do.
While I look forward to a day when we can all just get along, we need to isolate to get ourselves together, and to understand ourselves better as to why we treat each other the way we do. Next, we have to govern ourselves, to look and think of a better way to treat each other. One of the things that is needed in the world today is self-awareness. People who love themselves make a difference. To anyone who is discouraged or who has lost their way, my advice is to stop where you are, take a deep introspective look into yourself, then seek God for redirection, and come to peace with what you find. Finally, we need to strive to sustain ourselves, valuing ourselves first, and to take ownership for our lives. Then it won’t make a difference what others think about us.