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Howland church has new pastor

HOWLAND — Having grown up in the Warren area, the Rev. Erica Brown said she was thrilled to be named the new senior pastor of Howland Community Church.

Brown was officially installed April 15 by the Rev. Stephen Bentley, regional associate pastor for Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

She said she was working on a master’s degree in English with plans to be an English professor when she went through a period of doubt. A college chaplain gave her “the permission” to enter the ministry and study at the University of Chicago.

“That permission was what I needed to walk away from English. I realized I wanted to be a minister instead of teaching a bunch of people Shakespeare. I felt I could have an impact on others that the college chaplains I had met had on me,” Brown said.

Brown was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

She said most of her ministry has been of the chaplain faith.

Brown has served at two churches in Illinois, as the chaplain at Blackburn University in Carlinville, Ill., then the college chaplain and director of religious life and community engagement at Wesley College in Dover, Del., and then assistant chaplain at Northwestern University.

When she heard of the opening at the Howland church she looked forward to coming back to the area where she finds the residents are “a special group of people.”

Brown said she looks forward to the different challenges that parish ministry brings.

“When this area took out the last blast furnace, I spoke to my mom and she became very emotional since my grandfather had worked at Republic Steel. My mom was very emotional that piece of history was ending. It occurred to me this area is a special place of people who have known great hardships but who are resilient and will come back,” she said.

Brown said she likes the idea to come back to the area and be a part of where she grew up and people she knows.

“I hope to be able to have a positive impact in the community that shaped me. I am eager to try to make a difference in the larger community that nurtured me as a younger person,” she said.

Brown has a bachelor’s degree from Mount Union College, master’s degree from Bucknell University and Master of Divinity from University of Chicago Divinity School.

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