From a Disfigured Kid to Leading America's Most Diverse Church | Pastor Hurmon Hamilton

Description

"I need some opportunity so that when I graduate, I want to be on the stage with the honor students." That prayer, whispered alone in a boys' bathroom after getting jumped by a football player, ended up changing the entire course of his life. In this episode I sit down with Pastor Hurmon Hamilton of New Beginnings Community Church (NBCC), a congregation so radically diverse across race, class, and politics that people call it a miracle just to witness. We start there Silicon Valley millionaires worshipping next to people coming out of halfway houses before going back to where it all began. Pastor Hamilton opens up about a childhood medical accident that left him permanently disfigured, the years of psychological weight that came with it, and the white special-needs teacher who saw something in him that the system didn't. We talk about the fight, the prayer, and the two teachers on the same day who set his entire future in motion one who kicked him out of her class, and one who threatened to kill him if he acted up, then became the reason he made honor roll. We get into his years organizing across faith lines in Boston, the "miracle" partnership between a small Black church and a white congregation that helped it grow from 200 to over 2,000 members, and the ideas behind his book, "America's Last Best Hope." He's brutally honest about nearly sabotaging his own marriage for a decade out of a belief he didn't deserve to be loved, and what his wife said to him that finally broke it open. And he tells me the truth about what surprises people most about being a pastor: the pain nobody sees. This one is honest, it's moving, and it'll make you think differently about the relationships you've let go of. Thanks for being here, I think you're going to love him as much as I did. Here's what you can do: 👉 Join our membership community for early access, bonus episodes, and extra moments. 👉 Grab something from the online shop to represent the community wherever you are. 👉 If you're already a member, thank you, share this post wi