NEWPORT, Tenn. – Pat Brown thought her ministry was over when Horace Brown, her husband of 37 years, died on Jan. 1, 2021.
Horace Brown served as pastor of 18 churches in South Carolina and Tennessee during his ministry and was director of missions for the East Tennessee Baptist Association when he died.
“When Horace died, I not only lost the love of my life, but I also lost ministry as I knew it,” Pat said. “For 37 years, we did everything together. We were a team, and ministry was our life. For a long time, I wondered if there was still a place for me in ministry.”
She observed that when a pastor’s wife dies he can normally continue his ministry, but it’s different when a pastor dies. “When I lost my husband, I felt my ministry was gone too because we were a team. That’s what we did together. I couldn’t go on and do it by myself,” she said.
While she had “great support” from family and friends, the past few years have been tough.
Not long after Horace’s death, a friend sent Brown a note, reminding her that “God still has plans for you.” Brown said she read that note every day but wasn’t fully convinced God could still use her.
She attended Tennessee Baptists’ 2023 meeting in Chattanooga and reconnected with a friend, Princess Anderson. “She asked me if there was a ministry for widows of pastors and I said I was not aware of any,” Brown said. “We talked with Jeanne Davis (wife of Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of Tennessee Baptist Mission Board), and she asked us to submit a proposal for the ministry.”
Brown began praying about such a ministry. In January of 2024, she attended the annual bivocational pastors and wives retreat in Sevierville, Tenn., at the invitation of Roger Britton, bivocational ministry specialist for TBMB, and his wife Kathy. The Browns had been regulars at the event each year prior to his death. During that meeting, she talked with Roger “Sing” Oldham about the possibility of such a ministry. Oldham serves as pastor engagement director with the TBMB.
A few months later, Brown and Oldham met at the associational office in Newport to develop goals for the ministry and began to form a leadership team composed primarily of pastors’ widows from across the state. The ministry is based on 2 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV) – “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Not long after, they landed on a name for the ministry: Grief to Grace.
Oldham, who provided leadership for the ministry from TBMB, agreed that Grief to Grace is needed. “Many ministers’ wives feel called by God to their role of minister’s wife. They faithfully and joyfully serve with their husbands as a ministering team.
“When they lose their husbands to death, they also lose their standing as a trusted ministry leader within the congregation where he last served. Grief to Grace is designed for ministers’ widows to surround newer widows with comfort, encouragement and support,” he said.
The leadership team, currently consisting of Brown, Nancy Bramlett, Susan Lee, Jennifer Landrith Oliver and Kathy Britton, is in the process of developing a list of pastors’ widows across the state so they can send them cards and make contact with them as soon as possible.
A closed Facebook site for the widows (by invitation only) also has been developed, Brown said, adding that they hope to provide fellowship opportunities throughout the state.
“It’s just amazing what God’s done,” Brown said. “I’m not sure where this is going to go or what will develop in the future, but everyone seems to be on board with it and realizes that it’s a much-needed ministry.”
For more information about Grief to Grace, contact Brown at [email protected] or 865-363-6774.
This article originally appeared in the Baptist and Reflector.
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