Father and son tandem preach the gospel

EDITOR'S NOTE: The headline of this story was changed. The Browns preach at different churches in Jackson and Scott City.

Ministering to youth and watching them grow and spread to preach around the country are some of the many blessings counted by the Rev. Ronnie L. Brown and his wife, Marilyn, who were recently honored with a weekend of special events for 25 years of service by Calvary United Pentecostal Church in Jackson.

But Marilyn Brown calls her immediate family's situation the ultimate blessing. Both of her children, Nathan Brown and Rachelle Teague, are pastors in local Pentecostal churches. Teague leads Apostolic Lighthouse United Pentecostal Church in Scott City with her husband, Jay. Nathan Brown serves directly under his father as an assistant pastor at Calvary United, where Marilyn's father, J.D. Collins, was pastor between 1964 and 1975. Ronnie Brown is a lifelong member and met his wife there.

Ronnie Brown said having his son working with him is a privilege.

"In a ministry, there are certain things you have to have trust with, and when the assistant pastor is your son, you have no fear, that you can leave and turn services over to him," he said.

Nathan Brown said his father would absolutely say that from the time he was born, his father wanted him to be in the ministry and find the call of God on his life. But his father never pushed him because he wanted his son to find it out for himself.

Although Nathan Brown was awarded a full scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University after his graduation from Jackson High School in 2000, he attended only one year before deciding to enter into the ministry.

He attended Bible college in Indiana for two years and later graduated from Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, where he received a ministerial leadership award.

He said it was his choice to become a pastor.

"I felt the timing was right, and looking back it was absolutely the right choice," he said.

His father is still happy with the choice.

"One of the greatest honors I have is that I have a son who is following in my footsteps, and not just because I wanted him to but because he felt that's what the Lord wanted him to do. It's a beautiful situation," Ronnie Brown said.

The father and son have the same mission but differ in their preaching styles.

"We probably couldn't be any more different, but we absolutely complement each other very well," Nathan Brown said.

His father is not a hard preacher, he said, but he is old-style, boisterous and passionate. Nathan Brown uses technology to teach, and seldom gets loud.

"I'm a new school," he said.

However different in delivering a message, Brown said, without question the father and son's mission is the same.

Ronnie and Nathan Brown often travel together as members of the Missouri District Board for the United Pentecostal Church. Ronnie serves as a presbyter and Nathan serves on a youth committee. Having lunch together most days and traveling represents quality time spent for the father and son. Nathan Brown also said it is rare his father has a day without visiting him and his wife Heather and their young son, as well as his sister and her family.

"His hobbies are his family," Brown said.

The connection the family shares is made possible by their work in the church, Nathan Brown said. For Marilyn Brown, the family's situation is something she said someone cannot humanly orchestrate.

"It's just kind of miraculous how it's all fallen into place," she said.