Reverend Dr. Brian Scott Relford, Sr.

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Rev. Dr. Brian Scott Relford, Sr. is a native of Massillon, Ohio. He is the fifth child of nine children born to William and Janet Relford.  He and his wife, the late Patrice LaChelle Elder, are the proud parents of three children, Brian Scott Jr., Rachel Jenel, and Sarai Patrice.  He credits their children for keeping his preaching and teaching fresh and relevant so that he may “Serve this present age.”

Dr. Relford graduated from Central Catholic High School and enrolled in Livingstone College.  While matriculating at Livingstone he became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.  In the spring of 1991, he heard that small still voice and accepted his call into the ministry to preach God’s word.  He went on to complete his studies and graduated from Livingstone College with honors with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education.  Upon completion from Livingstone he enrolled in Duke Divinity School where he received the Benjamin E. Mays Scholarship and the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship in the fall of 1992.  While studying at Duke, Dr. Relford became a local preacher at the historic St. Mark AME Zion Church in Durham, North Carolina and completed one Clinical Pastoral Education Unit (CPE) at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.  He received his Deacons Ordination in 1993 and Elders Ordination in 1994.  Both of these ordinations were received in the Central North Carolina Conference under Bishop George E. Battle, Jr.  He graduated from Duke Divinity School with a Masters of Divinity Degree in May of 1996. Dr. Relford enrolled in United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio in August of 2013. He finished his Doctors of Ministry (D. Min) in December of 2016.

Dr. Relford began his pastoral experience in the Central North Carolina Conference.  He was appointed to his first church in February 1995 at the Corinth AME Zion Church in Siler City, North Carolina where he served as their Shepherd for 2 1/2 years.  In May of 1997 Dr. Relford was transferred to the Tennessee Annual Conference, under the leadership of the late Bishop Enoch Benjamin Rochester and began pastoring the Logan Temple AME Zion Church.  

In June of 2006, the late Bishop Roy Anderson Holmes, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, appointed Dr. Relford to Lomax Temple AME Zion Church in Detroit, Michigan. 

In July 2019, Bishop W. Darin Moore appointed Dr. Relford the pastor of the Union Wesley AME Zion Church in Washington DC. Dr. Relford is excited about this new chapter in his 24 year span of pastoral ministry. Union Wesley has a rich history of leadership and ministry and Dr. Relford is honored to serve.  God will do great things with this pastor and congregation, “Eyes have not seen nor ears have heard nor has it entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for them that love him.” I Corinthians 2:9.