The Honorable Bishop Shadrach Brown Jrr. passed away November 8, 2003. He was born September 7, 1930 in Chuckatuck Virginia to the late Shadrach and Annie Brown the second of four children, one James preceded him in death. Shadrach Brown married the late Shirley Godwin Brown on December 25, 1957. Their 67 year union produced three children, Keith, Gail, (deceased) and Marcus.Bishop Brown received his formative education through the school system of Nansemond County, VA graduating from East Suffolk High School in Norfolk, Va in 1948.
After high school he worked at Planters peanut factory in Suffolk to pay for his education which included a BS in Elementary Education from Elizabeth State, Teachers College, Elizabeth City, NC. He also earned his masters in Educational Supervision and Administration from Hampton University, Hampton Va.
Bishop Brown served as a teacher and a principal in the Suffolk City School System before moving to Roanoke in 1970 where he was a home school counselor at Jackson, James Madison, Highland Park and Ruffner junior high schools and as a teacher at Fallon Park Elementary School.Bishop Brown received the call to preach in 1957 under the leadership of the late Bishop David C love. He was ordained and commissioned by the Church of God in Christ in 1961 and pastored an Open Door Mission in Suffolk, Va. In January 1970, appointed by Bishop Levi Willis, he assumed the pastorate of Garden of Prayer #7 then located at 804 Madison Ave. in Northwest Roanoke.Bishop Brown went into full-time ministry in 1977 and later held official positions in the Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Virginia under presiding Bishop Levi Willis, Sr. serving in such capacities as Superintendent of the Greater Western District supervising nine churches from 1985 to 1994.
Additionally, he served as administrative assistant to Bishop Willis from 1994 to 2004. He also served as dean of the New Frontier COGIC Bible Institute. He received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Bethlehem Bible College in 1989 and was consecrated as Bishop in July 2006 by the Lake Bishop William P. Wiggins of Suffolk, Va.Under Bishop Brown’s guidance his ministry grew which led to the church’s relocation in 1986 from the Madison Ave. location to a newly-constructed house of worship at 3101 Cove Road.
In 2007 the facility underwent an expansion that transformed it into the palatial dual-building campus that presently overlooks portions of the city.Bishop Brown, founded the United Faith With Works Organization in 2005, a fellowship of six churches. He and First Lady Brown founded the fully accredited Vision of Faith Bible College in 2009 which included organizations as “CLIP,” (Children Learning Program in the Prevention of Crime) and “Save the Generations” a state-wide fully functional youth outreach campaign. He was also involved in various community organizations as the NAACP and the SCLC.Bishop Brown was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley, V. Godwin Brown and his beloved daughter, Gail Anita Brown. Survivors include: two sons, Keith L. Brown and Marcus O. Sr, (Luciana) Brown; sister Catherine Jones of Suffolk, Va; brother Marquis Brown of Florida; seven grandchildren four great-grandchildren, a host of nieces nephews and his loving church family.
