Bishop Dr. Harold Nathaniel Brooks, Jr., is indeed a God-sent preacher who knew very early in life that God intended him for a higher purpose. Bishop Brooks credits his maternal grandmother, Anna Stinger, a humble laborer in the vineyard of Providence Baptist Church in Leesburg, Virginia for his early exposure to the “Great Commission” and for nurturing his feeling of a higher calling. The clarity of his calling was confirmed in the early 1990’s after coaching and mentoring a group of young men and the death of his beloved grandmother. Pastor Brooks began his ministerial walk in 1994 after expressing an “irresistible urge to preach” to the Rev. Dr. Harold S. Stinger, Pastor of First Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Leesburg, Virginia. He was licensed to preach in 1996 and served as an Associate and Youth Minister under the leadership and tutelage of Rev. Dr. Stinger. In the late 1990’s he was assigned to Purity Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. as a Howard University School of Divinity Field Study Intern. He subsequently joined Purity in January of 2000, and in September of that year, the late Rev. Dr. J. Terry Wingate ordained him. While at Purity, he served as an Associate Minister, offered spiritual oversight to the Youth Ministry and Evangelism, and supported the Christian Education initiatives. In April 2002, he was called to pastor Zion Baptist Church of Eastland Gardens in Washington, D.C. Pastor Brooks was called to the pastorate of First Baptist Church in December 2004 and began his ministry at First Baptist Church in February 2005. He was installed as the church’s 14th pastor on April 5, 2005.

 

Bishop Brooks is a native of Washington, D.C. and an honor graduate of Howard University, where he received a Master of Divinity and B.A. degree in Communications and a Doctorate of Ministry from Virginia Union, in May 2007. Bishop Brooks is also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Missionary Baptist Minister’s Conference of the District of Columbia, the Northern Virginia Baptist Ministers Conference and was initiated at the Alpha Chapter (Howard University) of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. in March 1990. Currently, he serves on the Education Committee with the Rho Zeta Sigma Alumni Chapter (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Bishop Brooks serves on the Executive Board of the House of Paul Ecumenical (H.O.P.E) as Overseer of Ordained Clergy. In September 2021, the late Bishop Leonard N. Smith appointed Pastor Brooks as Bishop Designate in H.O.P.E. with consecration scheduled for August 2022 at the conclusion of successful catechism under the leadership of internationally renowned, Bishop H. Eugene Bellinger. In October 2021, at the invitation of his late pastor, Bishop Leonard N. Smith, Pastor Brooks began the process of consecration in preparation for the office of bishop. Led in instruction by Bishop H. Eugene Bellinger, Pastor along with four fellow candidates studied the history of the episcopacy. On August 27, 2022 at the Rock Christian Center in Falls Church, Virginia, he was consecrated to the office of bishop with the House of Paul Ecumenical (HOPE). HOPE seeks to cover and nurture clergy. Bishop Brooks oversees non-pastoral clergy.

 

Bishop Brooks is the son of Harold Nathaniel, Sr. and Marian Louise Brooks. He is married to LaTanya Thomas Brooks, and they have four children Dr. KiAnna Marie, Jazmyne N’Dae, Harold Ill, and Indya Grace. Pastor Brooks believes that this will be A Season of Manifestation. Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV) He has charged the congregation to transform First Baptist Church into “A Sanctuary in the Heart of Southeast With a Heart to Serve”.