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The Rev. Steven Bland Jr. spent Wednesday morning at a hospital counseling a family whose mother had a stroke and heart attack.
“That’s the story of my life,” he said. “Giving hope, you know, in hopeless situations.”
In the afternoon, Bland arrived at the Fisher building ahead of an academics committee meeting for the Detroit school district’s board — his first time participating in a meeting as a sworn-in board member. As the senior pastor of Liberty Temple Baptist Church for the last 21 years, Bland said he hopes to carry his connections and advocacy in the community into public service.
“I’ve met a lot of people — there’s a whole lot more I haven’t — but I’ve been a community advocate for a lot of issues on a lot of fronts,” he told Chalkbeat. “I hope to turn that into partnerships and opportunities where people can be heard.”
The Detroit Public Schools Community District board voted to select Bland to fill a vacant seat on Monday night. The seat opened last month following Angelique Peterson-Mayberry’s resignation on July 2. Bland, 65, will finish out her term through the end of 2026.
Board members are scheduled for up to 60 meetings a year, earning up to $250 a meeting.
Although he serves a congregation of about 1,800, Bland said he wanted to become a board member because of his passion for helping uplift youth.
At his church, the pastor has helped develop new opportunities for kids in his community, including a technology center that serves as a Wi-Fi hub for students in the neighborhood to do homework.
He also leads the church’s ministry, Project R.I.S.E., which stands for Rigorous Instruction to Supplement Education. The tutoring program helps kids with the subjects they are struggling in.
During the application process for the board seat, Bland said the biggest challenges for the district will be to maintain state funding in the wake of federal cuts and to address its longstanding problem with chronic absenteeism.
Bland said he’s heard through church outreach about systemic barriers that can prevent Detroit kids from getting to school regularly. Some of his ministry has addressed those gaps, such as providing winter coats and new clothes to kids.
The new board member said he created other church-school partnerships as a leader at the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit.
Bland said he’s been inspired by the “strong women who believe in the educational excellence of children” around him.
His mother was a leader in parent-teacher associations and a school liaison. His sister is a retired school principal. His wife, also retired, taught at John R. King Academic and Performing Arts Academy. One of his daughters graduated from Renaissance High School and now works as a consultant to educational institutions.
Bland said he is also motivated to work in public education by his two granddaughters, ages 15 and 7, who live outside of the Detroit area.
The pastor said he will consider running for reelection in 2026, with input from the other board members.
Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
