‘Break the huddle and run the play,’
preacher, CBS Sports’ Brown says
"ouf joviuey ur tdiin
Minister James Brown addresses the congregation at Bridgeway Community Church near Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo by Timothy Cox
BY TIMOTHY COX
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
COLUMBIA, Md. — Mention the
name James Brown, and worldwide, most
people think of the hard-working leg
endary, now-deceased musician.
However, in broadcast media circles,
the same name belongs to another hard
working black man with the exact same
handle.
On a recent Sunday morning at
Bridgeway Community Center in subur
ban Baltimore, broadcaster James Brown
was in a role many people didn’t realize he
was into - a minister's role. As special
guest speaker, Brown provided the word
during a month-long speakers series host
ed by Bridgeway's resident pastor, David
Anderson.
During his hour-long sermon, Minister
Brown delivered a passionate message
reflecting his lifelong commitment to
sports and spirituality. Having experienced
life as a teenage high school and college
basketball star. Minister Brown would
later use his court savvy to transition to a
career as a network TV football announcer
and analyst.
His recent sermon targeted the theme:
“Break die huddle and run the play.” The
football analogy fit perfecdy, considering
Brown ciirrendy hosts “Inside the NFL”
on Showtime, in addition to his regularly
scheduled play-by-play football broad
casts that have aired on CBS-TV and
FOX-TV in the past 30 years. He also
hosts CBS News and contributes to “60
Minutes.”
Blessed with a smooth, engaging per
sonality, the announcer/minister easily
encountered the congregation, initially
with stories about his wife, and four young
grandchildren. Following his warmup of
his audience, Brown evoked his love for
the Lord - and his knowledge of Scripture.
During his sermon, he compared foot
ball huddles with attending church servic
es, Sunday school and Bible studies - but
never taking lessons learned in those
forums and “running the play” or applying
what’s learned for good use. He also equat
ed four quarters of football with the bibli
cal three-scores and 10 life-cycle.
“By age 16, you've completed quarter
one, at 36, it's halftime; at 50, it's third
quarter, and anything after 70, well, that's
over-time and ultimately, ‘sudden death,’
he said to applause and chuckles.
After enjoying a star-studded career at
DC’s legendary DeMatha Catholic High
School, Brown matriculated to Harvard,
where he earned a degree in American
Government, in addition to his continued
athletic prowess as Harvard's premier
hoopster. When a tryout with the NBA
Atlanta Hawks proved fruitless, Brown
gathered his Harvard degree and entered
corporate America with gigs at Xerox and
Eastman Kodak.
Brown regularly attends D.C.’s Rhema
Christian Center, and speaks there on
occasion. Bridgeway Community Church
was founded by -senior pastor David
Anderson. The church reflects a spirit
filled, multi-culturally diverse congrega
tion.
Dr. Anderson described Minister
Brown as “a devout man of God.”
For more information
about Bridgeway Community Church, go
to, info @ bridge way .cc.
New
frontpage B4
ence thus far and I have,
enjoyed working with my
officers and meeting my
members.”
As a young man,
Baldwin says he acknowl
edged that “God has some
thing for me to do” but was
not quite sure what that
was at the time. He says
he finally gave in to the
call in his early 20s but did
not immediately go into
preaching.
“I was actually in my
early 30s when 1 got my
official call,” he said.
“When I say official, I
mean by my conference
and then going to seminary
school.”
Baldwin has ministries
and issues that are close to
his heart. Children, health
care, food insecurities,
community service and
social justice are just a few
of the things on his list.
“But I think the quality
of lifestyle is what I am
really interested in helping
church members with, but
also members of the sur
rounding community,” he
said.
Another goal for
Baldwin is to integrate
himself with some of the
local pastors in the area as
well. He says he has met a
few of the local pastors
who have come to intro
duce him to the area.
Baldwin said many
people have certain mis
conceptions about the
Seventh-day Adventist
faith. He acknowledged
there are differences, such
as the belief in the eternal
soul or the day they
observe the Sabbath.
“We are not a separate
religious entity; we are
Protestant,” he said.
“People get us mixed up
sometimes with JWs
(Jehovah Witnesses) or
with Mormons. There is a
distinct different between a
Seventh-day Adventist, a
JW or a Mormon.”
“The Seventh-day
Adventist probably has
more in common with the
Baptist and the Methodist
than they ever would with
JW or Mormon, because
we believe in the Father,
The Son and the Holy
Spirit,” he continued. “We
believe that Jesus died and
rose for us.”
Ephesus has had a long
tradition of bringing infor
mation to the community
about important issues that
plague the community,
such as dementia or how to
work with youth. Baldwin
says he wants to continue
to attack those issues and
more going forward.
“I think the church
needs to speak on the
issues,” he continued. “I
am not necessarily shy
about including these
issues in my sermons from
time to time as well. The
church cannot be divorced
from the struggle.”
LOVE
Submitted photos
The Love Church is located at 4198 Cherry St. in
Winston-Salem.
Growth
from page B4
you know until they know
how much you care,” he
said. “We do things for the
community such as $5,000
gas card giveaways. We
went to the grocery store
and bought everyone gro
ceries, and we do funerals
for free.”
Friday says he knows
for sure one funeral he per
formed for free was a cata
lyst for a lot of their
growth. He says orice he
spoke to the young people
at the funeral, many indi
viduals flocked to the
church.
Friday has somewhat
of an unconventional path
to the ministry. He says he
was a troubled youth that
had run-ins with law
enforcement, which led
him to prison. While there,
he found his faith.
“I am very open about
my story,” he said. “I was
in the streets really bad,
and so I got locked up. My
attraction to the ministry
was when I was locked up.
There I started teaching
Bible study and when I got
out, I was connected to
Holy Trinity Full Gospel
Baptist Church and Rev..
Richard C. Miller, and I
just served wherever I
could.” •
“Preaching was the last
thing I've done because
when I was ordained to be
a minister, it was a lot of us
and you didn't get the
In seven years, The Love Church has grown to one of the best churches that attracts the millennial genera
tion.
opportunity to preach,” he
continued. “I may have
had the chance to preach
for 15 minutes or so on a
Wednesday but he [Miller]
taught me a lot, and that is
how I learned to do min
istry.
Once he got out of
prison, Friday says he was
determined to stick to the
church. He says he would
ride the bus to church until
someone blessed him with
a car. He met his wife at
Holy Trinity and said they
did not initially set out to
start a church but after vis
iting other churches, they
felt they needed to do
something different.
“I'll say it like this
because I don't like saying
we are better, it's just our
assignment is so different,”
Friday said about The
Love Church. “Our
assignment is social serv
ice because we are doing
what God says and to
touch the people nobody
would touch.”
Friday says the things
he went through and expe
rienced as a youth helps
him relate more to this gen
eration. He feels when he
shares the things he did in
the past with young people
they can use him as an
example of what not to do.
Friday says the faith
community has to use new
methods to create avenues
for people to come in. He
faithfully uses social media
to attract new members.
Even his preaching style
differs from other Baptist
preachers, which is also a
bonus.
You're Invited to share in Worship with
"THE MOUNT"
In celebration of the 126th Church Anniversary
Sunday,
March 11, 2018
11:00 AM
Guest Minister:
Re\ Monica Redmond
St. Paul Baptist Church,
Charlotte NC
Bishop S. T. Davis, Sr., Pastor
495 NW Crawford Place. W-S, NC 2 405