Local pastor consecrated as bishop at Freedom Baptist Church
Pastor Britt M. Pledger was consecrated as a bishop last Saturday at Freedom Baptist Church.
Pastor Britt M. Pledger was consecrated as a bishop on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Freedom Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
Pledger is the pastor and founder of Jesus the Christ of the Triad and the founder of Stop Kill’n and Start Chill’n of Rochester, New York. Born on Aug. 17, 1962, in Queens, New York, Pledger is seeking to make his mark in the religious community of the Triad area.
Pledger comes from a long line of pastors, preachers and ministers, which gave him the desire to help those in need by the power of God. He vividly remembers pretending to be a preacher and playing church as a child. He conducted mock weddings, dedicated children to God, and even presided over funerals. His first eulogy was for a guinea pig.
As an adult, his playing became reality as he delivered his mother’s eulogy entitled, “Are you ready to answer the call” and God revealed that he too must fully submit and answer his call.
He was ordained to preach the word of God on July 24, 2010. His spiritual road has been filled with highs and lows, but through it all, God has kept him for such a time as this, he said.
The consecration service was an emotional one for Pledger. Prior to the service, Pledger said he was nervous in anticipation of how the Holy Spirit would move him.
“When I began to walk down the aisle, I felt like I was marrying Christ all over again,” he said. “When they began to sing and all of those other things, I could feel the spirit of God moving in me and it allowed me to dance like David danced. As the preached word came, I began to get stirred in a spirit that was just getting started to blow, because it was something on the inside that needed to come out.
“When they anointed my head, my cup runneth over. I could feel that everything that was not of God was coming out of me that needed to be removed. The spirit of God was going in and getting inside where my spirit and soul resides, to the core of who I am. It was an elating feeling that I could not explain.”
Pledger gives a lot of credit to his wife, First Lady Mashaba Pledger. They were married in August of 2017 and have eight children. “I have found the most virtuous woman, other than my mother, in my wife, Mashaba Pledger. God completed my rib and we have grown in his grace and his knowledge,” Pledger said.
As a bishop, Pledger’s goal is to serve the people. “I didn’t come to be served, I come to serve,” he said. “You don’t have to pull the red carpet out for me, you don’t have to bring me a bottle of water, I can bring you a bottle of water.
“Don’t put me on a pedestal, you better keep Jesus where he is supposed to be and that’s on the throne,” he continued.
“Me being consecrated as a bishop is just the beginning of what God is going to use me for as a leader in this great city,” he went on to say. “Everyone is not going to be happy about that and because they don’t know me, it’s going to be even rougher. I am not worried about them, because they can’t do anything to me unless God allows it to happen.”
The reason Pledger decided to bring his ministry to the city was because he felt this was a place where “he could grow.” He prayed about where he should go and said God pointed him toward Winston.
Pledger is now on the hunt for a building in Winston-Salem to house his ministry. He is confident that God will lead him in the right direction to locate a building that will allow them to adequately serve the community.
Pledger also wanted to give thanks to everyone involved in the consecration service and to those who have assisted him and his family during his transition to Winston-Salem.
