(Editor’s Note: The following is an article from the Jamaican Gleaner announcing the appointment of Rev. Brown)
Pentecostal Group Gets New Bishop
JAMAICA — “We have a process that we follow over the years. We go to prayer. Then we meet in ministers’ conference. And then we take a vote. The person who comes out with the most votes is regarded as God’s choice…I feel deeply honored to be given the opportunity to offer service at this level…”
After years of serving the New Testament Church of God in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in various capacities, the Rev. Dr. Barrington Brown has been elevated to the post of administrative bishop. Bishop Brown succeeds the Rev. Dr. W. A. Blair, whose term had expired and who has since resumed his role as senior pastor at the Faith New Testament Church of God in Bayside, Portmore.
Brown, 47, is one of the youngest persons to be appointed administrative bishop of one of the largest denominations which enjoys membership in both the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches and the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals. He comes to the bishopric of his denomination mindful of persons who have mentored him throughout the years. These include the Reverends Lindsay Arscott, Ronald Blair and Fedlyn A. Beason.
Another Opportunity
Brown feels particularly indebted to Bishop Fedlyn A. Beason, as he worked closely with him as the denomination’s national youth and Christian education director. His elevation to the office of bishop, he believes, is another opportunity to give back to the denomination which has invested considerably in his educational and leadership development.
When asked why he accepted the nomination to become the administrative bishop of this Pentecostal church group, Brown said, “We have a process that we follow over the years. We go to prayer. Then we meet in ministers’ conference. And then we take a vote. The person who comes out with the most votes is regarded as God’s choice. I embraced that process, and have accepted it. I feel deeply honored to be given the opportunity to offer service at this level. It is an awesome responsibility. It is a mammoth job and I trust God to guide me.”
His term is for two years. However, the denomination’s constitution allows for him to be re-elected two more times in succession.
A son of Cascade in Hanover, he became a born-again Christian at 17, shortly after graduating from Rusea’s High School in the parish. After leaving high school, he was employed as a poor relief officer with the Hanover Parish Council. While there, he noticed that an indigent man did not show up two paydays in a row to pick up his subsistence checks from the parish council. Bringing the checks and some food, he found the man ill. While leaving, young Barrington Brown felt the need to pray for him.
Defining moment
Brown turned back and asked the man for permission to pray for him right there. The man consented and he prayed. It was a defining moment. “When I opened my eyes, he had a glee that he did not have when I gave him the food and the money earlier. When I left again, I sensed a voice saying, ‘You could commit your life to doing that for people.’ I felt that God was speaking to me,” said Brown.
About two weeks later during a missions service at his home church in Cascade, he responded to the challenge issued by the preacher for persons to commit themselves to serve God in full-time ministry if He so leads. Shortly after, he enrolled for a program of study at the Bethel Bible College in Mandeville.
Years later, he returned to Bethel to be its president. On his watch, the school received accreditation for both its bachelor’s degree in theology and its diploma in theology programs from the University Council of Jamaica, the nation’s post-secondary quality assurance body.
As administrative bishop, he has responsibility for 361 churches in Jamaica and an active membership of 92,136. This translates to 200,000 members and adherents worshipping on a typical Sunday. He hopes to see an increase of the registered membership rising to 100,000 within two years. These 361 churches are served by 289 pastors, 26 of whom are women. Also in Cayman, he has responsibility for four churches.
The new bishop was consecrated to that office on Sunday, October 5, during a service held at the Waltham Park New Testament Church of God in Kingston.
He is married to Patricia, who complements him in ministry by her involvement in the leadership of the denomination’s women’s ministry. She is a trained teacher with advanced skills in teaching those with reading disabilities. She holds a master’s degree in education and is a guidance counselor at the Villa Road Primary and Junior School in Mandeville. The Browns are the parents of two girls.
Mark Dawes, Religion Editor, The Jamaica Gleaner
(Source: Church of God World Missions)