'Preachers of Detroit' Reality Series Shows Pastors' Lives Away from the Pulpit

Deitrick Haddon will return to Detroit to confront some of his demons on an Season 2 episode of “Preachers of L.A.” The show is developing a “Preachers of Detroit” franchise that will air in the winter of 2015. (Screenshot: “Preachers of L.A.” video)

______________

Whether an announcement from the Oxygen network merits “hallelujah!” praise or a prayer for redemption depends on your perspective, but here it is:

“Preachers of Detroit” will debut on the cable network during the winter of 2015, the Detroit Free Press reports. An expansion of the popular reality franchise “Preachers of L.A.,” the program offering a candid view into the personal lives of seven Detroit mega pastors is part of the network’s “Very Real” rebranding effort to appeal to young viewers, according to The Wrap.

Tell Us:

• If you’ve watched “Preachers of LA,” give us a candid review. In general, tell us what you think about a proliferation of reality-based TV programs.

The Los Angeles-based program has averaged more than 1 million weekly viewers, which ranks it as Oxygen’s most-watched freshman series ever among viewers ages 25-54. Atlanta, New York and Dallas editions of the show are also in the works.

Oxygen said the series will “focus on powerful themes of faith, family, and friendship as these seven men and women of the cloth share their lives, transformations and triumphs in and out of the pulpit in Detroit, Michigan.”

Though a ratings bonanza for the network, the Los Angeles edition of the program has been heralded as everything from “phenomenal for the church” to “so out of bounds from orthodox Christianity … even nonbelievers will see the wackiness, according to Christianity Today.

The New York Times called the program “one of last year’s most invigorating and surprising reality television debuts.”

“Structurally, ‘Preachers’ works familiar territory: a cast of similar but not too similar individuals who experience friction but have little concern about expressing it in front of cameras. But the cast – all men of the cloth – is unique, and the squabbles are usually faith based. As with the most engrossing reality television, everyone believes strongly that his side of the argument is the right one.”

After “Preachers of LA” premiered last fall, the Rev. James C. Perkins, pastor of the Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit, told BET.com the show paints pastors as more interested in celebrity than charity and doesn’t represent “the best of the Black church tradition.”

“I don’t think the show represents the best of the Black church tradition,” the Rev. James C. Perkins, the pastor of Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit and, at the time, vice president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and now its president.

“The downside is that people often paint all pastors with a broad brush and, after watching this show, they may well begin to associate all pastors with those behaviors,” Perkins said. “There are many pastors who are out here serving the people and not just serving themselves.”

However, the show’s defenders say it uses a ground-breaking format to introduce people who aren’t regular churchgoers to the Gospel, The Christian Post reports.

“...Never before have you ever seen the name of Jesus on a reality show like this proclaimed throughout the entire show,” said Deitrick Haddon, a gospel recording artist who is one one of the stars of the Los Angeles edition of the program.

Haddon, who is originally from Detroit, said he was called by God to produce the show. He fled his life and ministry for a “war against God” that eventually led him to help create a series that portrays pastors struggling with the same issues as their parishioners. In a second-season episode, Haddon will return to Detroit to confront some of the painful issues of his past, including a messy divorce and an out-of-wedlock child.

Pastor Jay Haizlip of The Sanctuary church in Huntington Beach, CA, another participant in the show, said “Pastors” is not a typical “preaching TV show.”

“It’s not going to be us standing on a platform preaching messages, that’s not what this show is,” he said. “This show is a show where millions of people will get to watch us do life, and what it’s really like to live in our shoes. I don’t believe people really understand what it’s like to be a pastor. ...”

It’s unclear when “Pastors of Detroit” will premiere. Pastors who will be featured on the program include:

• Bishop Charles Ellis of Greater Grace Temple;
• Pastor David Bullock of Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church;
• Evangelist Dorinda Clark-Cole, a member of the Grammy-winning gospel group the Clark Sisters;
• Pastor Don Shelby of Burning Bush International Ministries in Ypsilanti;
• Bishop Corletta Vaughn of Go Tell It Ministry;
• Bishop-elect Clarence Langston of the Word in Action Christian Center;
• Detroit-trained Pastor Tim Alden of the City of Praise Christian Church in Los Angeles.