Brown’s Chapel

Welcome to Brown’s Chapel in Southport, North Carolina. It’s easy to find, almost directly across from the Ace Hardware store. This little church has a long and storied history, having been here in one form or another since 1879. Stories are told of grandfathers huddled around a pot bellied stove for warmth in winter and of the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit elevating congregants off the floor. Rest assured, the presence of the Holy Ghost still lingers.

I had driven by this church hundreds of times on my way to and from the Bald Head Island Ferry. I had seen a few cars with people often getting in and out of them both before and after services–always impeccably dressed– in the parking area and always wondered who went there and what services were all about. It’s an AME Zion church, a branch of Methodism, and you might say a close cousin of the Global Methodist Church. My ministry has kept me from being a regular attender, but whenever do drop in, I am always warmly welcomed as a member of the church family. They consider me one of them. I’ll take that compliment, thank you.

Hurricane Isaias was a relatively small hurricane as hurricanes go, but don’t tell that to the congregants of Browns Chapel. That nasty little storm, a category 1 hurricane, packed winds from between 74 and 95 miles per hour. According to the town of Oak Island, during that storm, the anemometer recorded a maximum sustained wind of 85 mph and gusted higher, evidently more than the steeple of Brown’s chapel could withstand. Driving by the church days after Isaias, I remember wondering what the strange wooden structure in the parking lot to the right of the church could be. It looked like a kids’ fort of some kind made of very old boards. During one of my passes, I looked up at the church and then I realized: The steeple! I was staring directly into the base of the steeple, which was lying alongside the church with the top pointing into the woods behind the church. As I recall, i drove around the block a few times at one point thinking about the tragic damage I had seen. The Holy Spirit was on me to help, and that I resolved to do.

Time was then the church, not the football stadium or the ballpark was the soul of the community. We looked to pastors–not Hollywood or television stars–for our spiritual guidance. God was our source and the Bible was His Word. We knew the Bible from our infancy, had it memorized. Many even learned to read from the Bible and no other book. Every home had a Bible; it was cherished and ever present. Go back a generation or two in my family and you might be asked to recite a Bible verse in front of your aunt or mother. Time was then the entire community would rally round Brown’s Chapel to make sure that their steeple would be put back in place and the church made good as new. Whatever the effort to resurrect Browns Chapel was, I knew that I wanted to be part of it, even lead it if need be, because I knew that this little church was the soul of the community that it served, and I wasn’t going to give the victory to Satan. He thought that he had scored a knock-out punch with Browns, but our Lord Jesus has a much bigger fist. To cite scripture for my inspiration, this passage has come to mind: Matthew 22:36-40:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (AKJV)

I put myself it their shoes. They confronted sheer devastation. The church fathers and mothers needed immediate help. Did they have insurance? Insurance we know is never enough. Who would come to their aid? I didn’t know whom to contact. If the church even had a phone or electricity, I was pretty sure the storm had knocked those out. Through a friend, I was eventually able to reach out to the pastor, Avery McAllister, and we met. A humble man, I liked Pastor Avery from the first. A short tour confirmed my worst fears: the steady rains of hurricane Isaias had thoroughly soaked the church and destroyed almost everything inside. Everything compromised had to go: carpets, pews, ceiling, even the floor was ultimately replaced. Examining one of the pews that was left behind in the fellowship hall, I could see that the water had delaminated the particleboard to which the upholstery had been fastened. Clearly this was going to be a long and major recovery for Brown’s Chapel.

Thankfully – and I give all honor praise, and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ – through the generosity of many, many people from all walks of life in Southport and beyond, the church was able to recover. It’s beautiful inside and will warm your heart to sit within. In the process of watching this recovery, I became friends with many of the congregants and enjoyed spending Sunday services at Brown’s Chapel on a regular basis, including Christmas and Easter, which church I found to be full of the light, life, joy, and the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. I would often have lunch with the pastor after services at Jersey Mike’s and on one occasion, we sat and talked for an hour or more about all matters gospel on a park bench by the Cape Fear River in Southport. I think we would have spent more time, had it not been for the necessity that he had to go home to his wife. I remember him saying to me, “My time here has been well spent.” It wasn’t my words, it was the presence of the Holy Ghost in our conversation. He always made time for me, even if that meant that he would meet me after serving communion to the shut-ins or be having two lunches on Sundays, one with me and one with his wife. He’s since been moved to a larger church and been given more responsibility. Pastor Corine Brown has taken the reigns at Browns, and she is both a firebrand and a delight.

The Holy Spirit has quickened the parable of the Good Samaritan to me in connection with this story of the resurrection of Brown’s Chapel. This is not to say that “I am great and look what I have done.” No. No. No. This is simply to say that there are times when we will confront the deep wounds that Satan has inflicted upon a person or a community and we must stop and with the help of almighty God assist in making things right. God is great and look what He has done.

Here is the parable in Luke 10:30-35: And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,  and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (AKJV)

As I boy, I spent my summers at an idyllic place called Point O’ Woods on Fire Island and many a Sunday staring at the beautiful stained glass window in the church at POW, as it is known, depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan, based upon the painting by that same name by the painter French painter Aimé Morot. If I remember nothing from any of the many children’s and adult sermons I heard, and I do not remember a word, I vividly remember that magnificent stained glass window in the front of the church. I would like to think that God had a plan for me way back then, and that He used the Holy Ghost present in that striking imagery to influence me throughout my life and all all these years later. If you’re looking for powerful place to worship, stop by Browns. You’ll love it.