MEET JAMAAL "JL" JACKSON
Innovative, passionate, and devoted to empowering people from all walks of life, Jamaal "JL" Jackson has become a dynamic change agent in this generation, touching the lives of people across generational and social lines. As a husband, proud father, pastor, community advocate, bishop, and an inspiration to those he encounters, JL is affecting change nationally and internationally. With his warm infectious personality and love for people, he can reach the masses with his unique creativity.
To engage and connect people to resources that will help them discover their potential and use it to create a positive change in their families, businesses, faith, and communities has become his mission. With tenacious determination, strength, and passion, JL hopes and desires that through his work others can sense his love for humanity and be compelled to strengthen their relationships. With a heavy civic and community involvement, he is utilizing developmental tools to build the lives of people not just in his immediate community, but in the city.
JL is the Lead Pastor of ReFreshing Church, which serves as a community-based Church Connecting People, ReFreshing Faith, and Serving Others. Before leading this growing congregation, he served with his father, Bishop Delmar Jackson, as the Executive Pastor and Youth Pastor at Abundant Grace Assembly in Roanoke, and he also served as the Lead Pastor of OutPour Church in Martinsville, VA
Additionally, Bishop Jackson is an active member of his community as a Community Advocate. He has served as a City Youth Services Citizens Board Member, a City Council-appointed member of the City of Roanoke Task Force to Reduce Gun Violence, and Vice Chair of the Roanoke Neighborhood Advocates Board. He presently serves as the lead Community Engagement Chaplain for the Roanoke City Sherrif's Office, the City Police Department, a registered Chaplain for the Clerk of Circuit Courts, a member of the Roanoke Chapter of the SCLC and the NAACP, a founding member of Black Millennials of Roanoke (BMOR), the organizer of Connected Pastors of Roanoke (CPR), the Chaplain and a board member for Families Expecting Deliverance Using Prayer against Gun Violence (FEDUP), a board member and past president of the Roanoke Justice Ministries, the Vice President of the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization, and a member of the board for the Virginia Children's Theatre.
While dedicated to the purpose and plan God has for his life, JL’s first ministry is to his wife Porshia, and their 3 daughters. Together, this devoted husband and wife team empowers people to become who they were created to be.
