The Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant, a mentor and leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, mother of a prominent megachurch pastor and the wife of an AME bishop, died at age 77 from breast cancer on Sept. 26, her family said.

She started schools around the world, from Dallas to Ghana, said her son, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Cecelia Bryant lived in Baltimore with her husband.

“She was really what Mother Teresa was to the Catholic Church is what she was to black Methodism,” Jamal Bryant said.

“Rev C.,” as Cecelia Bryant was known, was the episcopal supervisor for the AME districts her retired husband, Bishop John R. Bryant, oversaw, according to Religion News Service. She established the AME church in Côte d’Ivoire and co-founded it in India, according to the church.

Jamal Bryant said his mother was “really committed to prayer” and was involved in her family’s life, attending extracurricular events for her grandchildren and helping them with homework.

He and his sister, Thema Bryant, both recalled a childhood trip to Haiti as a formative experience.

“Both she and my dad got to a point of saying, ‘These kids don’t need another middle-class Christmas,’” Thema Bryant said. “So, one year, she packed us up and took my brother and I to Haiti. So many people were telling her it was dangerous; she was, like, ‘They need to know the world beyond Baltimore.’”

Thema Bryant and Jamal Bryant both said it was a transformative, defining trip.

“I think it really birthed both my brother and I’s commitment to service,” Thema Bryant said.

The day after his mother died, Jamal Bryant reposted her last sermon at New Birth. She appeared alongside her husband, John Bryant.

They two preached on the importance of prayer and asked the congregants to “devote yourself to prayer.”

“Beloved, prayer is a supernatural endeavor. Prayer is greater than reason. It’s not just some good idea that somebody had,” Cecelia Bryant said in the video.

Between books she wrote, conferences she organized or attended, in-person ministry and online prayer services, Thema Bryant said she would guess that her mother touched the lives a million people.

“Her last formal act of ministry, Oct. 31, 2023, is when she turned 77. Instead of asking for gifts, she asked [on Facebook] for people to join her for 77 days of prayer for a global ceasefire,” Thema Bryant said.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat who represents Baltimore, described Cecelia Bryant as a “commanding disciple who stood deep and strong in her faith and family” in a post on social media.

“She committed her whole life to spreading the Word of God as a liberating and anointed force to everyone she met,” Mfume wrote.

Messages on a funeral home site left in memory of Cecelia Bryant described her “unwavering faith” and “gentle spirit,” and as a “mighty prayer warrior” and a “true blessing and role model.”

Cecelia Bryant had two children and seven grandchildren, plus two godchildren that were as close as family, Thema Bryant said.

“She loved, like unconditionally loved us. It just makes such a difference,” Thema Bryant said.

Cecelia Bryant’s life will be celebrated with a wake and homegoing celebration on Saturday at Bethel AME Church at 1300 Druid Hill Ave.

The wake begins at 10 a.m. and the celebration begins at 11 a.m., and will also stream online.