Pastor Francine A. Nelson Brookins is the (Senior) Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Fontana, CA.  She was appointed to serve Bethel by the Rt. Rev. Theodore Larry Kirkland in November 2009 with the commission to "get the church built."  In less than two years, Pastor Brookins led the congregation in the ground up construction of a new church edifice!  She is a faithful, fun, caring and capable Pastor who knows and loves those she serves.  She is a uniquely powerful preacher and teacher.

Pastor Brookins is passionate about creating an atmosphere that allows those who earnestly seek the Lord to experience the transforming and healing presence of God. She is committed to social justice and is an advocate for the marginalized voices in our society. In addition to her service to the church, Rev. Brookins is a licensed attorney in the State of California, specializing in mediation, arbitration, and conflict resolution.

After answering her call to ordained ministry in 1998, Rev. Brookins earned a Masters of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion (Graduate Theological Union) and was ordained an Itinerant Elder in 2002.  She served as a member of the Board of Examiners, the Conference Coordinator for Women in Ministry and the Conference Director of Social Action before being assigned to Pastor Wright Chapel A.M.E. Church in San Francisco where she served for four years.  She received her B.A. from Georgetown University in 1993, and a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) in 1996 from The George Washington National Law Center, Washington D.C.  For over 10 years she maintained the Law & Mediation Offices of Francine A. Brookins, handling general civil litigation, criminal defense, and mediation in high-conflict interpersonal disputes in familes and churches.    

In 2008 Rev. Brookins was elected by the General Conferece of the African Methodist Episcopal Church to serve as the new member of the Judicial Council (Supreme Court); and as the 2nd Vice President of A.M.E. Women In Ministry.  In 2016 she is asking the General Conference to elect her to serve God and the church as a Bishop!  For more information about Francine Brookins for Bishop in 2016  CLICK HERE.

Rev. Brookins is the daughter of the Rev. Carole Nelson Ingram and the late Bishop Hamel Hartford Brookins.  She was born in Los Angles, CA, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She is the proud mother to two adorable Shih-tzu’s... grace and mercy.

"The biblical mandate to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God is quite clear. (Micah 6:8)  Those who love God are compelled to respond to the impact of social ills on those we know and those we don't.  The righteous can't be silent or absent in the face of injustice or inequity.  When it is time to speak, we must SHOW UP & SPEAK!" - Pastor Brookins