Rev'd Dr. Woodrow I. Brown (1918-2006)
Over the years there have been a number of clergy that I can say have impacted me just by being able to know them. Back when I was a kid in Kirby, WV, my mother wanted to have a local pastor to identify with despite the fact she herself was backslid. Although she was presupposed to Pentecostal churches, the local Assemblies of God pastor in Kirby was really not that impressive (the man cancelled Sunday services at one point for the Superbowl, which gives you an idea of his spiritual leadership!). So, staying true to our roots, Mom got in touch with a local Brethren pastor who actually was quite a distance away (Kirby was about 20 miles from this particular church), and that pastor was Rev. Woodrow Brown. I want to share a little of his legacy here because he was a true spiritual mentor to many, and he had a heart for the people he ministered to. I want to start by first giving a background of the church he pastored, as that was a fascinating story in itself, and then I want to tell a little of Rev. Brown's story.
Rev. Brown pastored the Tearcoat Church of the Brethren, which was located about 6 miles east of Augusta, WV, just off US 50, and pastored there for Lord only knows how many years. The Brethren Church was of course where my own family's roots were too, and many of the local congregations of Brethren in our part of West Virginia were old congregations, some over 200 years. Tearcoat Church was originally built in 1875 by what was then a congregation of 45 members whose ancestors arrived in the region back in the late 1700's, and many of them became farmers (many of the notable peach and apple orchards of the area are still operated by those families, notably the Shanholtz clan). When it was built, it was considered to be one of the largest Dunkard congregations in the area, according to West Virginia Brethren historian Emmert Bittinger in his classic volume, Allegheny Passages (Camden, ME: Penobscot Press, 1990) on pages 375-376. Today, the church is still huge by comparison of many area churches of any denomination, but it also has the membership still to maintain such a large structure. I am not exactly sure when Rev. Brown came to the Tearcoat church, but it had to have been sometime in the 1970's - no source on him has the exact dates of his tenure. That now leads to Rev. Brown's story.
Tearcoat Church of the Brethren, just east of Augusta, WV, as it appears today
Woodrow I. Brown was born in the town of Peebles, OH, on October 2, 1918. Although he later pastored Brethren churches, he was initially ordained as a Baptist, and throughout his life and ministry he was noted for being fairly conservative in his doctrine as a result. That ordination, according to the biographical information provided on the back cover of his book, Father's Faith (Ememclaw, WA: WinePress Publishing, 2006), happened in 1948. He also attended Wilmington College, but he received his degrees from Practical Bible Seminary in Hagerstown, MD, as well as a degree from Davis College later. It wasn't until he was in his 60's that he received a Doctorate in Christian Education in 1982. After pastoring in several states, he finally settled at Tearcoat and eventually retired as Pastor Emiritus from there in the late 1990's. Now, it is his final resting-place - no doubt he loved that congregation, and they still hold him in high regard too.
We first met Rev. Brown in 1980, when Mom called him for pastoral care during one of her "spirit-filled" (she drank a lot, in other words!) episodes. However, Rev. Brown was always one to be there when called, as unfortunately my grandmother and step-grandfather discovered later when they reasoned that "pastor" must mean unofficial free taxi, and they milked that to the fullest (I would choke them today for taking advantage of this dear man of God, but they are deceased already) and didn't even give him the privelege of attending one service at the church. Many people get skewered notions that a minister is to be a personal slave, and it is truly shameful that a minister is often called upon to do this or do that for people who don't even attend his church - that has become a serious pet-peeve of mine over the years. My family was no exception - many of them would not darken the door of a church unless someone died, yet they expect ministers to be at their beck and call. Those lazy jackasses need to attend a church once in a while rather than just sucking the life out of preachers, and it would do them good to make that sacrifice! However, Rev. Brown ran errands and did other menial tasks like that gracefully, and I am sure Christ has given him a crown of something for such extraordinary endurance dished out by some of the most obnoxious examples of God's creation. I admired that about him, but wanted to kick my mom and grandparents in the butt for doing what they did. Many ministers today go the other extreme, thinking they are too high and mighty to do anything except preach, and those irk me as well. The examples of true men of God like Rev. Brown shame some of these modern-day spoiled, fat-bellied self-proclaimed "ministers" who are often more interested in making names for themselves rather than serving the God they claim to speak for. It is tragic, but I digress and will refrain now from soapboxing!
I mentioned that Rev. Brown authored some books, and I hold in my hand now one his son Ralph published posthumously of many of his dad's most inspiring messages. Rev. Brown was a true scholar, and often appealed to literature, science, and even philosophy to communicate an affirmed truth in Scripture. Reading many of his sermons, as well as hearing them, you begin to see that he was a well-read man and didn't just over-spiritualize everything. Much of his preaching was eschatological, and he believed that the history recorded in the Bible set the stage for all the redemptive acts of Christ, from the Incarnation to the Second Coming. Although many "theologians" would summarily dismiss his book as a "popular devotional work," Rev. Brown's sermons did pack a punch! At the same time, Rev. Brown had almost a childlike sense of awe regarding God's creation - in one quote, he said this: "Needless to say, I have seen everything on earth in my travels many times and I still marvel at the power of the Word of that man who started and kept moving all the trillions of tons of molecules from the roof of the boat (meaning the Ark) that day." This was part of a devotional message he entitled "The Biographical Travelogue of Miss Molly Cule," in which he personifies a single molecule (hence, "Molly Cule"!) by telling the wonders of creation from that perspective. This is something that slaps in the face the theology of many Pentecostals and Evangelicals, who often have a Gnostic-like hatred for the physical world in favor of the "life to come" that is somehow superior and better. What Rev. Brown, as well as Catholic theologians such as Henri de Lubac, realized was that what God created was good, although a Methodist minister, Dr. Kip Laxson, takes it a step further by saying in one of his recent sermons that when God said at the Creation "it is good," he also meant that he saw (as God has foreknowledge of course) how the beauty of creation would become, and as Dr. Laxson succinctly put it, that is what God saw as "good." It is a similar statement that my Theology professor at Franciscan University, Dr. Regis Martin, echoes when he talks about justification - God sees the dung as good, enters into it, and from it comes a bountiful harvest. Rev. Brown follows a similar line of thought in his writings too. Reading this made me think too - why don't we act as better stewards of the earth God has given us?? That doesn't mean that we should all become members of Greenpeace (as they have an anti-human, anti-Christian agenda of ZPG), but rather that we should see the creative hand of God in that hibiscus flower outside our front window, and in the flock of white ibis that forage the bugs out of our yards here in Florida for example. It's a good lesson to learn, and I hope to utilize it on my Sacramental Present Truths page in the future. Sufficive to say, I am talking more theology and memoirs now, so let's wrap up.
In summary, Rev. Brown had the mind of a scholar, and the heart of a pastor, and he was a gift of God to a small West Virginia town that needed a ministry like his. He has gone onto his eternal reward, but his legacy is a heritage that will bless those who knew him for many years to come, provided the Lord chooses to tarry. God bless until next time.
