There were tears in the huge sanctuary at Apostolic Church of God. They were sparked by the occasion of the final sermon to be preached by the pastor, Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, who had announced his retirement a month earlier.
The church, at 6320 S. Dorchester, was packed, standing room only, for both of the June 1 services, and TV crews made their obligatory stops to record the event. In the hallway outside the sanctuary, a film crew was recording a goodbye message from the brownsuited ushers. But though there were tears, it was not really a sad occasion.
Bishop Brazier saw to that. He wanted it to be business as usual%uFFFDa strong sermon, lots of praise and worship, some ministering by the always-on-point choir, and an altar call to welcome those souls who decided to give their lives to Christ. “The reason I have decided to retire at this time is that I am tired,” Bishop Brazier told the Defender.
“I am just tired. I asked myself, does Apostolic Church of God deserve a pastor who is not about to reach his 87th birthday?” “It became somewhat tiring, taking care of a congregation this size (more than 20,000 members),” he said. “It was starting to take its toll and I did not want to retire from a sickbed. It was time.”
The new pastor is Brazier’s son, Rev. Dr. Byron Brazier. The Bishop said that while he certainly recommended his son, the church board and the congregation actually chose his successor. “I see too many churches that do not have anyone prepared to step in, and then when something happens, the church fractures,” Bishop Brazier said.
“I wanted a smooth transition, so when I presented it to the board, they approved him, and we took it to the congregation several times, and each time they overwhelmingly approved it. He is the choice of the congregation, not just my choice. “Now, certainly, after being the pastor of this church for 48 years, I would hope that my recommendation would carry some weight.” “I feel very good about it,” Bishop Brazier continued.
“He is a good pastor, and he just happened to be my son. I looked around and I need a capable general administrator. He had left his job with IBM and started his own business, and I convinced him to give up his business and come on staff here. At that time, he wasn’t in the ministry at all.”
“I am tremendously humbled to be called by the Lord to be of service to his people and to this congregation,” said Dr. Byron Brazier, who received both a master of arts in theological studies and a doctorate in ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary. “This did not happen a month ago. It happened 12 years ago, when I was called into the ministry from my private sector career.”
Bishop Brazier said that his son is responsible for all of the technology that the church now enjoys, something necessary to continue to serve such a large church and to bring in more and more young people. “I could retire at 86 or 96. I could stay on. But who ever heard of a pastor preaching at 96? We need a younger person, who is more in tune with the technology that is being used today.
That would be far more useful in a church this size. We’ve had tremendous growth of young people here, our teens and our young adults. But while Bishop Brazier said he won’t miss the 24-hour, seven-day work week that being pastor requires, there are things he will miss. “I can say that I am going to miss the people,” he said. “I can’t say that I’m really going to miss the work. I came in here every day, seven days, counseling, talking to married couples, individuals who had problems, visiting the sick, the bereaved%uFFFD”
“I have received heartfelt support from the people of this church, the people of Apostolic Church of God%uFFFD they have showered me with love and affection.” So, what will retirement be like for Bishop Brazier, who still enjoys his tennis game and enjoys trips to Paris with his wife of over 60 years, Isabelle? “Now, I am not going to retire from my church,” he cautioned. “I’m only going to retire from the pulpit. I will stay involved in civic work. I am a member of the Public Buildings Commission of Chicago, which I will continue to do.”
And Bishop Brazier boasts that part of his retirement day could include trips to the grocery store. “Now I do most of the shopping,” he said. “I admit, that at first, I wasn’t very good at it. I’d go out and bring back a head of lettuce when I was supposed to bring back a head of cabbage. My wife took to giving me really short lists, a can of peas, a can of corn%uFFFD Now, I get bigger lists. When I don’t know where things are, I ask some woman in the store, because they know where things are. I don’t ask men, because they are just as lost as me.”
While he says he will be there to advise his son, and he has been told that he will have a new chair in the pulpit reserved for “Pastor Emeritus” with his name on it, he’s not there to second guess his son. “I’m not going to be there to pull the pastor aside and try to give him advice and all. I will only give him the advice that he asks for.”
Bishop Brazier said that over his more than 50 years in the pulpit, he has seen the Black church move into the role of being more active in communities, and he points to the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as his inspiration, and the inspiration for many of those churches. “As I look back, I became more involved in the struggle for civil rights because of the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Prior to King, while there were churches that were very active, they did not have a vehicle that allowed them to do so. Dr. King energized the Black church, and he showed other ministers how to step out and be active, because the Black church was his base.” Bishop Brazier said that is why he became very involved with The Woodlawn Organization, as one of its founders. For the first nine years of the existence of T.W.O., Bishop Brazier was its president.
For 30 years, Bishop Brazier served as Diocesan of the 6th Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, which entailed oversight of more than 80 churches in Illinois. He also authored three books%uFFFDBlack Self- Determination, Saved by Grace and Grace Alone, and From Milk to Meat%uFFFDand many articles. “I believe the role of the Black church is to preach the gospel, save souls and bring people to Jesus Christ.
The church is not designed to solve the problems of the world,” Bishop Brazier said. “That’s why I disagreed with President Bush’s program to fund faith-based initiatives, by giving government money directly to churches. Churches should not get involved in taking money from the government, because that opens up your books to the government to look in and see what you are doing. Many of those churches do not have the staff to handle that kind of money, a $250,000 grant, so you end up with problems, and audits.
That is why you have to form those LLCs (Limited Liability Company) and CDCs (Community Development Corporation), so the work of the church is not being compromised. Your vision can become skewed.” Bishop Brazier admitted that being asked to pick out his greatest accomplishment as pastor is like being asked which is your favorite child. “I can’t pick out something that I can point to as a greatest accomplishment.
I can tell you what I am proud of%uFFFD I can use that word, ‘proud’%uFFFD what I am really proud of is how God has kept my mind stayed on the gospel for all these years. “Another thing I am proud of is that over the 48 years, when we had the first church building, and then in 1978, we built the Kenwood building, and then we built an addition to that building.
We then built the new sanctuary in 1993 and then built a huge dining hall and office complex onto that, and just last year we opened the new recreation center with a full-size basketball court for our young people. People see this complex, and think of it all as one building, and since all the brick is the same, it looks like that, but it is actually four buildings, joined together.
With all that building, with millions of dollars spent, we have no debt on anything. “We are debt free. I am proud of being able to turn over a church to the next pastor that is debt free, and still is able to do all of these things in the community, and give six figures to help the poor and provide for people, young people in India and Africa,” Bishop Brazier said.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that I’ve been married over 60 years to my wife, and she is a special kind of woman,” he said. “Not once in that time have I heard her say, ‘You’re putting that church before your family or me.’ My children understood what their father was doing. “My wife is a special kind of woman. She still cooks my breakfast every morning.”
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