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Fr. Jabriel broke into the advocacy world as a journalist: publishing a social justice monthly. The publication of that newsletter led to a position on former Georgia Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s D.C. staff, where he served as her Legislative Correspondent, Editor and Grassroots Liaison, ultimately serving as Special Assistant for Communications. In this post, he worked to connect community based organizations with Federal resources. He also managed the Congresswoman’s communications. He then served as Chair of the D.C. Black Republican Council and as an Alternate Delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Frustrations with Left and Right politics led Reverend Ballentine to Seminary and ultimately back to the Episcopal Church. He was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests on December 21, 2012. He graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary.

Before returning to the Episcopal Church, Jah Bread spent seven years as a Rastafarian and then returned to Christianity through the Ethiopian/Eritrean Orthodox Church where he spent seven years studying the theology of this 1700-plus year old African Christian tradition, under the direction of several monks, bishops and other clergy of the church.

An active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Fr. Ballentine also serves as Chair of the Public Policy and Racial Justice Committee of the Eastern Region, and Member of the National Public Policy Committee of the Fraternity.

Jabriel Ballentine is a graduate of the All Saints Cathedral School in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of Maryland University College. Fr. Ballentine is a single father to his oldest son, Omari.

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