Pastor Corey Brooks is a fixture in Chicago. The popular preacher is affectionately known as the “Rooftop Pastor” for his valiant efforts to create a much-needed community center—a goal that led him to live atop a building for nearly one year to spark awareness and raise funds.
Brooks, a Black preacher with deep community roots, ended up raising tens of millions of dollars for his transformational community and opportunity center, which is now under construction.
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But he was also recently in the headlines for delivering a closing prayer during the Republican National Convention and for penning a Fox News op-ed titled, “I Reject the Victimhood Mentality Democrats Want Me to Accept. That’s Why This Black Pastor Is a Republican.”
In it, Brooks explained what happened years ago when people found out he’s a conservative—a revelation he said didn’t go over too well.
“Being in a Democratic stronghold city and state … I underestimated the response drastically,” he told Billy Hallowell’s “Higher Ground” podcast. “I thought it would be OK. You know, people are free to have an opinion.”
Brooks quickly learned just how unpalatable some found his views, as he faced death threats and intense anger.
“There was a lot of pushback, a lot of negative things that were said, a lot of character assassination,” he said, noting he lost three-fourths of his congregation at the time. “We went from about 2,000-strong to about 500. And it was not a result of sin, it wasn’t a result of somebody did something wrong—it was just the result of my political beliefs and the onslaught of attacks that people launched at me.”
Brooks continued, “Our family had to go into hiding for several weeks. It was really bad.”
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Reprinted with permission from faithwire.com. Copyright © 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
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