JONATHAN 'BERLON'
ROWLAND
AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR / BUSINESS OWNER (CEO) & PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
Jonathan “Berlon” Rowland was born in Hackney, London, before moving to Enfield, Middlesex, as a young child.
He is a Christian, a father of three young men, a published author, entrepreneur, church leader, musician and experienced safeguarding professional with a strong background in leadership, mentoring, education, investigations and community transformation.
Jonathan currently serves at Edmonton New Testament Church of God in North London, having previously served at Tramway Christian Fellowship, an Elim Pentecostal Church in Edmonton. During his time at Tramway Christian Fellowship, he served as Youth Pastor, Elder and Music Director, playing a key role in the spiritual, pastoral and creative life of the church.
His passion for children, young people and families has shaped much of his life’s work. This has included launching and developing children’s and youth ministry within the church, as well as supporting young people facing complex personal, educational and social challenges.
Jonathan also served for many years on Limitless, the National Youth Consultation Board, contributing to the direction, strategy and impact of youth ministry across hundreds of Elim Pentecostal churches. He also serves as a Police Liaison Officer on the team at Limitless Festival, which typically welcomes between 5,000 and 7,000 people for an incredible week of community, connection and transformation for young people.
Professionally, Jonathan has worked in mentoring coordination and safeguarding roles within alternative education and SEND provision. His experience includes leading large teams, developing curriculum resources, supporting young people up to the age of twenty five, delivering staff training, coordinating safeguarding processes and working closely with schools, families, local authorities and external agencies. His work is rooted in helping vulnerable children and young people build confidence, develop life skills and reengage with education and positive pathways.
Before moving into education, mentoring and ministry leadership, Jonathan served as a Police Officer and Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Service. His policing career included frontline response, CID, robbery and burglary investigations, critical incident work, public protection, missing persons, domestic violence, child sexual exploitation, gang related investigations, firearms recovery and covert operations. This experience gave him a deep understanding of safeguarding, crisis management, intervention work and the realities facing young people and families affected by crime, exploitation and trauma.
Jonathan is also the founder and CEO of MyChurch.Events Limited, a Christian advertising platform he started in 2014. The platform has become a recognised name within the UK Gospel and Christian events network, helping churches, artists, ministries and event organisers reach wider audiences.
Alongside his professional and ministry work, Jonathan is a published author and continues to use his voice, creativity and lived experience to inspire others. Whether through writing, mentoring, music, ministry or business, his heart is to encourage transformation, strengthen communities and help people discover purpose, faith and hope.
Berlon Rowland is a reflective and faith driven author whose work blends poetic storytelling with raw personal truth and transformational insight.
He writes from lived experience, exploring identity, purpose, and spiritual transformation through a deeply honest lens. His voice carries rhythm, vulnerability, and conviction, inviting readers into moments of struggle, growth, and awakening. Through his writing, Berlon creates space for others to confront who they are and embrace who they are becoming. His work is not just read, it is felt. With every word, he challenges, inspires, and calls people to authenticity, encouraging them to rise, be renewed, and fully step into their true identity.
I Can Only ‘B’ Me by Berlon Rowland
I Can Only ‘B’ Me is a reflective and deeply honest work that explores identity, faith, control, and becoming through lived experience rather than instruction. The book is structured in two distinct movements, Side A and Side B, which together create a layered journey of collapse, surrender, and gradual reconstruction.
Side A consists of twelve raw and unfiltered chapters written from within the moments they describe. These chapters do not offer hindsight explanations or neatly resolved conclusions. Instead, they capture experience as it unfolds, allowing uncertainty, tension, and vulnerability to remain present. The narrative follows a progression from ambition and self direction into disillusionment, spiritual grey spaces, burnout, addiction, relational breakdown, and the slow erosion of meaning that comes from attempting to carry life alone. Central ideas such as the grey, handing the pen back, Upcaptured, waiting, and the contrast between aura and character form a framework for understanding the hidden cost of control and the illusion of freedom without surrender.
Rather than dramatising failure, Side A focuses on interior reality. It examines the weight placed on men who are expected to provide, lead, and remain strong while quietly absorbing exhaustion, grief, and disconnection. Faith is presented not as performance but as struggle. Belief without obedience, movement without alignment, and strength without rest are shown to be unsustainable over time.
Side B mirrors each chapter from Side A and slows the pace. These chapters reflect on what was happening beneath the surface, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. The intention is not to correct the reader or offer solutions, but to create space for recognition. Side B gives language to experiences that are often felt but rarely named, helping the reader understand their own reactions and inner conflicts without judgement.
Scripture is included throughout Side B not as instruction or final answers, but as an anchor point for reflection. The passages invite pause, stillness, and honest engagement rather than urgency or resolution. Faith is framed as relational rather than performative, and surrender as alignment rather than loss.
At its core, I Can Only ‘B’ Me is not about arrival or spiritual triumph. It is about remaining present in the tension between who we are and who we are becoming. It speaks to anyone who has wrestled with control, burnout, identity, waiting, or the quiet fear of losing relevance in a world that moves faster than depth allows.
This is not a self help book.
It is not a manifesto.
It is a witness.
The book closes without offering conclusions, leaving the reader with a grounded and honest question about authorship, trust, and what changes when control is finally released.
Jonathan 'Berlon' Rowland
The Author
Why use Berlon, you may ask?
Well, Berlon is actually my real name, the name written on all those important documents! Even though I was called Jonathan from birth by my parents and siblings, over the years I completely fell in love with the name Berlon and everything it represents.
My name carries a powerful meaning rooted in strength, influence, and purpose.
It is believed to come from the Old Germanic name “Berhtwald,” made from two words meaning “bright” or “famous” and “power” or “rule.” Together, the name reflects someone called to lead with strength, wisdom, and impact.
In ancient times, names like this were often connected to leaders, warriors, and people of honour. They represented courage, resilience, and the ability to stand strong during difficult times. That meaning still speaks to me today hence it being my author name.
For me, Berlon is more than just a name. It represents growth, identity, transformation, and becoming. It reminds me that even through struggle, there is purpose, light, and strength within the journey.
"I am not ashamed to be a black man living in the United Kingdom and although sadly having faced racism many times during my life so far, it has not and will not stop me being who I need to be. I will rise and use my gifts and talents to shine my God given light."
I have thankfully had the opportunity to share a tiny bit of my story to illuminate specific, timely issues, aiming to create safe dialogue to promote freedom, justice, and collective liberation.
#BLM I will always fight against #injustice, #inequality and against #racism