Assistant Pastor Dwight Brinkley, Administrative Assistant Latasha Wright, Pastor Reginald Bryant, and Chief of Security Raymond Morrison.
Pastor Reginald Bryant of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church gave a heartfelt invocation on September 18th at the annual MEDWeek (Minority Enterprise Development) Luncheon, emphasizing to all present in Beaver Street Enterprise Center’s community meeting room that each person must recognize and utilize the gifts received from God, and then share those gifts with their neighbor.
As Shiloh’s Pastor of Outreach, Bryant seeks those gifts in each person he meets, incentivizing the entrepreneurial spirit by providing a community-based Education Center that offers assistance, inspiration and practical training to individuals who are unemployed, uneducated or simply seeking a better way of life. By partnering with community resources such as Worksource and Beaver Street Enterprise Center, Shiloh’s Outreach Program is enriching lives today and helping to build a promising future for the community.
“We use a four-pronged educational approach,” said Pastor Bryant later that afternoon as he conducted a tour of his Education Center, “One, GED preparation (study skills, reading materials); Two, Workforce Development (computer literacy skills, job skills, etc.); Three, Personal Enrichment (clothes pantry, food, financial literacy training, parenting classes, etc.); and Four, Entrepreneurial Spirit (goal-setting, creativity, aspiration).” Beginning each day with a prayer, Pastor Bryant and his Outreach team, Assistant Pastor Dwight Brinkley, Administrative Assistant Latasha Wright, and Chief of Security Raymond Morrison, as well as a devoted cadre of volunteers, reach out to change lives by encouraging people to take a leap of faith and be the best that they can be.
In the meantime, while Shiloh’s Outreach Education Center is helping prepare people to join the workforce, Jacksonville’s award-winning core-city business incubator, Beaver Street Enterprise Center, is helping grow businesses that will enhance the economy of the community. Conveniently located across the street from Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Beaver Street Enterprise Center is the ideal launch-pad for the budding entrepreneurs being groomed by Shiloh’s Outreach program. It is a perfect fit and one that both organizations willingly offer their clients … neighbor helping neighbor, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the populace of the neighborhood.
“We’re grateful to Jackie Perry and her staff at Beaver Street Enterprise Center for partnering with our Outreach Program in recent months and providing us with the opportunity to network with top leaders and entrepreneurs in the community to form lasting strategic alliances,” said Bryant. “Partnering with Beaver Street Enterprise takes our program to the next level.”
Pastor Bryant noted that in the past four years, he has witnessed miraculous transformations through Shiloh’s Outreach program, his assistant Latasha Wright being one of those miracles. Wright was a convicted felon who could not find employment when she found Shiloh’s Outreach program. Unmarried with three children, Wright’s gift was in computer skills and, with encouragement from the Shiloh Outreach program, she established her own business, Special Touch Graphics by Tasha. Today, in addition to assisting Pastor Bryant, she heads up the Youth Enrichment Program at Shiloh’s Outreach Education Center and serves as a role model for many. “Every day here is exciting,” said Wright. “There is no judgment. We just seek our gifts from God, develop them, and use them for good.”
For information on Shiloh’s community-based Outreach Programs, please contact Pastor Reginald Bryant at 904-652-0581 or email him at rbryant@smbcjax.com.