Columbia, SC – In the Midlands community, Barrien Delon Henderson is an inspiring community steward. He works to serve God, serve people, and lift up his community with excellence. His leadership comes from a mix of deep faith, strong administration skills, and a heart for service. In a region where Black men and older adults face higher risks for prostate, colorectal cancer, and diabetes, the gathering was one small but important effort to close long-standing health gaps. Nationally, Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as men in other racial or ethnic groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC

In the Midlands community, Rev. Barrien DeLon Henderson has become one of the local leaders helping to connect this kind of public health work with trusted faith spaces. He serves as a pastor, church administrator, and health advocate. Community members who work with him describe someone who aims to serve God, serve people, and lift up his community through both careful planning and compassionate care.

That combination of logistics and ministry was on full display at the Game Plan for Life Men’s Prostate and Colorectal Health Summit. Henderson served as logistics manager for the event, helping design a smooth and welcoming experience for men who came to learn about cancer risk and receive screening. His work included coordinating space, flow, and timing so that participants could move from education to registration to clinical services with as little confusion and waiting as possible. Those details were important for men who may be taking time off work, managing transportation, or seeking care for the first time in years.

Henderson’s role at the summit did not end with the schedule and the sign-in tables. During a quiet moment in the program, he stepped to the front and led the room in the hymn “Blessed Assurance.” Witnesses described the performance as a rich, full baritone that shifted the tone of the event. For a few minutes, the health summit felt more like a worship service. The song helped many attendees pause, breathe, and prepare for potentially difficult conversations about cancer risk, family history, and the need for early detection. In that moment, a clinical setting became a space where faith, emotion, and health could exist together.

Henderson’s leadership in these spaces is rooted in a long relationship with the church. He grew up deeply involved in ministry and answered a call to preach in 1996. He later completed a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies, giving him formal training to support his preaching, teaching, and pastoral work. Before moving into ministry leadership, he spent years in retail management. Those early roles helped him build strong administrative and customer service skills, which now show up in his attention to detail at church and community events.

Today, Henderson serves as church administrator at Trinity Baptist Church in downtown Columbia. In that position, he works behind the scenes to keep the church’s operations running, from schedules and communications to support for staff, volunteers, and partner programs. He also helps manage the Trinity Educational Community Center, where the church hosts events and learning opportunities for people of all ages. Colleagues say his calm presence and organized approach help ministries function more smoothly and allow pastors and lay leaders to focus on teaching and care.

Bridging faith and health in the Midlands

The National Minority Quality Forum’s Faith Health Alliance is a national program that works with a network of pastors and churches to bring health education into underserved communities across the United States. Led by NMQF’s Center for Sustainable Health Care Quality and Equity, the Alliance focuses on issues like cancer, diabetes, vaccines, and heart disease, using trusted faith settings to share information, host screenings, and support healthier lives in communities of color.

In recent years, Henderson has taken on a more visible role in health education, especially for communities of color. He works closely with the National Minority Quality Forum Faith Health Alliance, an initiative that partners with churches and other faith institutions to bring health information directly into trusted community spaces. The Faith Health Alliance model reflects a growing body of research showing that faith leaders and congregations can help improve health outcomes by hosting screenings, sharing educational messages, and encouraging people to seek preventive care.

These efforts carry particular weight in Black communities. The American Cancer Society reports that Black adults are about 20 percent more likely to get colorectal cancer and about 40 percent more likely to die from it than most other groups. American Cancer Society Federal data also show that non-Hispanic Black adults were diagnosed with diabetes 24 percent more often than adults overall and faced higher death rates from the disease. Office of Minority Health Public health experts say that trusted messengers and community-based programs are critical to changing these patterns.

Henderson’s work extends beyond one summit or one partnership. He is a certified health coach through the Balm in Gilead Diabetes Prevention Initiative, a program designed to help people lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes through changes in diet, physical activity, and weight management. Through that initiative, he has guided about 30 participants across four cohorts toward healthier daily habits and better understanding of their risk. Many of those participants come from churches and networks where Henderson already serves as a spiritual leader, which helps build trust and accountability.

He also coordinates Project TECH So-WELL (Social Emotional Wellness), a program that reaches between 150 and 200 senior citizens. Through regular sessions, older adults receive information from expert presenters on topics such as heart health, mental health, mobility, and quality of life. The program gives participants a chance not only to learn but also to ask questions and connect with peers. For some, it is one of the few structured opportunities they have to talk directly with health professionals in a familiar, non-clinical environment.

For health access advocates, efforts like these show how partnerships between public health organizations and faith communities can begin to narrow long-standing gaps in screening, treatment, and outcomes. In Henderson’s case, the same skills that help him plan a worship service or manage a church office now support cancer screenings, diabetes prevention classes, and wellness programs for older adults.

As the Midlands region continues to confront high rates of chronic disease and cancer among communities of color, local leaders say the need for trusted, culturally grounded health messengers remains urgent. Through his work in the pulpit, in the office, and in community health programs, Rev. Barrien DeLon Henderson offers one example of how faith, organization, and service can come together to strengthen both the spiritual and physical health of a community.

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