Sherdeill Breathett has one of those Golden Voices. If you’re “of the world,” think Barry White and Issac Hayes. So if you’ve never heard him preach or speak, you have an idea what he sounds like. His deep, gravelly voice has a special appeal, to both men and women. Perception is, it’s the voice of a “manly man,” and Breathett is just that.

He’s one of those strong brothers who understands a man’s place in this world. No, he’s not macho. He’s a strong and confident man who’s not afraid to show his love for his wife, family and God. And, it’s nothing to see him working hard in the community – giving back. He’s kind, he’s smart and he’s good looking too. No wonder he’s been a success in both business and the ministry. He’s someone you can trust and believe in.

Full time, he’s the director of economic development for Sedgwick County. However for decades he’s been nearly full-time in the ministry. A former football player at the University of Oklahoma, Breathett talks openly about his tough upbringing in a single family home and about how his relationship with God helped him get through the tough times and safely to the other side.

In 1984, he was ordained as a minister at Christian Life Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. He met his wife Genise in church and they moved to Wichita in 1990 to become involved with her father Bob Hankins Sanitation business.

For the first two years, he was associated with Pastor John Edwards at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church. In 1992 the couples found their way to Saint Mark United Methodist Church, where he became a beloved youth and assistant pastor.

For seven years, he was the pastor of Quayle United Methodist Church in Salina. It was a part-time position that allowed him to continue his full-time job. In 2003, he stepped away from that position and returned to Saint Mark.

“As soon as I got back, people were asking me, ‘when are you going to start a church?’” He told them then, and over and over again when he was asked that same question, “I will not start a church unless I feel called to start God’s church, not my church.”

Last year he got that call! The call, he says, it to “open God’s church,” not his church.

What will the church he’s called to lead look like?

Similar to Breathett, the church will be “very laid back,” with a casual dress code.

A dedicated proponent of the need to strengthen Black families, Breathett says the church will have a strong couple’s ministry. In addition, the church will also focus heavily on youth and men’s ministries.

“I have a strong passion for men taking their rightful position,” he says.

He hopes to build a church full of strong men who can help other struggling men and boys become strong Godly men. With so many boys being raised in homes without their father, Breathett says it’s becomingly increasingly difficult for young men to establish a strong family, when they have no idea what a strong family looks like.

Breathett has demonstrated his support for raising strong men throughout his ministry and through his long-term involvement with Wichita-based Real Men, Real Heroes. He is a founding member of the 10-year-old youth mentoring program and is currently on his third year of a four year term as president of the organization.

Rock Christian Fellowship

Late last year, after nearly two decades of pastoral involvement, Breathett stepped away from Saint Mark. Brother B, as he’s affectionately referred to by those who remember him from his days as a Christian Disc Jockey, was sent off with a gracious farewell and best wishes. By all parties involved, this was definitely an amicable parting of the ways.

This isn’t one of those departures that tears a church in half. Brother B says his objective is not to encourage or try to attract members from Saint Mark or any other church.  “My relationship with people is more important than trying to acquire members,” he says.

The new church will be Rock Christian Fellowship — God also placed that name for the church on him – and it will be associated with the Church of the Nazarene, an evangelical Christian denomination. 

At first, his plan was to start an independent church, but Richard Woods, senior pastor at North Ash Church told him about the Church of the Nazarene and their plans to establish 70 churches across Kansas in the next 10 years. Woods introduced him to the church planner as well as the District Supt and, “the rest is history.

Rock Christian Fellowship will begin with a pre-launch on Sun. March 5 with a 10 a.m. service at Madison Avenue Apartment Clubhouse. Initially, the church will have just one service a month, on the first Sunday of the month. He expects to continue that schedule for three to four months, then gradually increase the worship frequency. His goal is to begin a full schedule in September or October when families are back from summer breaks.

Breathett says Rock Fellowship members will do more than attend church. He hopes to get them involved in fun activities as well as worship and Christian development activities. He mentioned cookouts, picnics and even bowling. It’s all about making people feel wanted and accepted, no matter who they are.

“This is truly an act of faith,” Breathett noted, “but too often churches are guilty of trying to clean their fish before they catch them” Or in other words, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

It’s a philosophy he’s determined to keep at the forefront of Rock Fellowship. If he does, he should certainly be a success.