Recently, we had the opportunity to interview Bishop Dale Bronner for the November edition of the Daystar Partner newsletter. Only a portion of the interview was in the newsletter, but you can read the full version right here!
Q: Tell us a little about how you got started in ministry.
A: I got started in ministry when I began teaching a Bible study in my parents’ home at the age of 14. Sometimes, as many as 75 people would cram into our living room to hear me teach the Word of God. I did that for 13 years. Also at age 15, I started a Bible Club in my public high school that was called the Praise the Lord Club. Periodically I would hold assemblies in my school that reached all 2,000 students. During this period, I also ministered on a monthly basis in a local prison with 2,000 inmates and at 4 local convalescent homes. I founded Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral in 1991.
Q: Who are three of your all-time favorite pastors?
A: My own pastor, Rev. Dr. William Holmes Border, Sr. is one of my all-time favorite pastors. He was an exceptional leader and the person whom God used to recognize the call of God upon my life. He led a 6,000 member church back in the 1970s. Another of my all-time favorite pastors is Pastor Tommy Barnett. I love his relevant approach to ministry and the incredible vision for the Dream Center that he founded in Los Angeles. My third all-time favorite pastor is Bishop T.D. Jakes. He is an innovative preaching machine who has connected with the masses and transcended the parameters of the traditional church.
Q: Who has been your greatest role model in life and ministry, and why?
A: My greatest role model in life and ministry has been my own father. He showed me how to be the godly head of my family. He lived a godly life before me and honored my mother. He taught me to be honest, work hard and keep good company. He taught me to keep God first, family second and business/career third. He taught me to seek God before building or establishing anything. He taught me to lean upon God for guidance. He taught me to apologize when wrong. He taught me to never settle for average. He taught me to tell my story, live my dream and change my world.
Q: Your new book Change Your Trajectory: Make the Rest of Your Life Better was just published! What’s one thing you hope readers will learn when they read it?
A: Since change is inevitable, I hope readers will learn how to be forward thinking and master change instead of being a victim of change!
Q: What does it mean to Change Your Trajectory?
A: To change your trajectory means to change your thinking, your perspective, your attitude, your inner circle, and your vision for the future so that you are prepared for what lies ahead. It means to aim ahead of your target because your target is a moving entity. If you aim where it is, you will miss it. So you have to anticipate the pace of change and aim ahead of it so that your bullet is on a trajectory to hit where the target is headed.
Q: Has there been a crucial moment in your own life that you’ve had to change your trajectory?
A: Yes. A great change in my personal life that challenged me was the decision to leave the traditional Baptist church, which was my first pastorate, and launch out to plant an interdenominational ministry. The place I was at had become a comfort zone for me. In fact, the year before I left the Baptist church, they voluntarily doubled my salary, without my ever mentioning money to them. It was very difficult for me to leave people whom I loved and who loved me. It was a familiar and comfortable experience for me since I had grown up in the Baptist denomination. I learned from this experience that good is the enemy of God’s best. I was in a good place. It was comfortable, but it precluded me from trusting God and watching the Holy Spirit develop new gifts in my life. It challenged my faith and strengthened my dependence upon God. The decision for me to leave the familiar and trust God in a new endeavor was the best one I could make. So from this experience, I learned that making the right choice can often feel terribly uncomfortable at the present time, yet God can still be leading that decision. I had always assumed that if it were the right decision, it would feel right and comfortable. But it felt as though I was doing the wrong thing, and I was most uncomfortable.
Q: How can we use changing situations and circumstances in our lives to help us?
A: We can use changing situations to help us trust God at a deeper level. The more things change in our world, the more we must anchor ourselves in God who never changes. Then we can also use changing situations to develop our capacity to dream, be creative and think strategically.
Q: What would you say to someone who feels stuck in life?
A: Seek God. Get around other creative people who are doing something of value. Open your heart and mind to be able to see new opportunities. Research and see what is available to you. Look for problems to solve. Dream elaborately, and in detail. And work to make it a reality.
Q: What does it mean to prophesy your future, and why should we do it?
A: To prophesy your future means to speak in line with God’s desire for your life. We should do this because Jesus taught us that we would have whatever we say (Mk. 11:23). I John 5:14 reminds us that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears us.
Q: Tell us about your show “Power for Living” which airs on Daystar?
A: “Power for Living” is a Bible-based program that will inspire, instruct, and inform a person how to live victoriously for Christ! It will empower you to be and do what God has called you to be and do!
Bishop Dale Bronner is one who has changed his trajectory many times over the course of his life to accomplish his goals and unique calling. Dr. Bronner started in ministry at an early age. At age 14, he began a weekly Bible study in his parents’ home and by 16 he engaged in a monthly prison ministry. He was called to his first pastorate at the age of 27. By 29, he founded Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, a thriving faith community now with more than 20,000 members.
You can learn more about Bishop Dale Bronner at www.woffamily.org and on Twitter @BishopBronner.