Brown brings vision for community to First Christian

    Mike Brown’s transition to full-time ministry has been a long time coming, but it’s precisely that journey that put him in the position to become Holyoke First Christian Church’s new pastor, starting Sunday, Nov. 4.
    Brown and his wife, Amanda, along with their teen daughters Emmy and Elly, began attending the church in January, never expecting that he would become its new minister. A third adult daughter, Tia Witt, lives in Oklahoma with her family.
    When FCC pastor Merle Powell and his family moved in May, it left a hole not only in regard to preaching, but also in worship. As a family some might call obsessed with music, the Browns agreed that it didn’t make sense for them to not step up and use their gifts.
    Since then, Brown has been playing electric guitar, with Amanda on bass, Emmy on acoustic and Elly on drums for Sunday morning services. All three of the women sing, and since both daughters can play roughly a dozen instruments each, they keep things interesting.
    While attending and leading worship at FCC, the Brown family was present for the church’s search for a new pastor. Though it wasn’t something Brown expected to be doing himself, it was his prayer that the right person would be hired. As certain doors were closed and Brown was encouraged to consider the possibility that God’s plan for him was different than his own, he began to think about the possibility.
    His big question was whether his vision was compatible with the church’s vision. Brown was pleased to find that both he and the church desire to reach the community and lead people to Jesus and the transformation that’s in him.
    “I want to be a church for people that are sick of church — for folks who absolutely love church as well,” Brown said. Meeting the needs of those two seemingly opposed groups can be messy, he acknowledged, but love gives a church the power to do so anyway.
    It was 26 years ago that Brown came to Christ from atheism. Coming from that background, he believes wholeheartedly that church is for the broken, the hurting, the afflicted — like he was. That’s something he didn’t understand when he was an atheist, so he wants to make sure that others do.

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