31st Pastoral Anniversary Reflections - Part 1 - 7:30am - By Shantell Stokeling
Good morning family and friends. Today is a special day as we recognize and celebrate the man of God over this house, Bishop Heber M. Brown the second (wait for applause) Bishop Brown joined the Shiloh family in April of 1986 when he accepted the call to pastor. Three months later, on July 27, 1986 he was officially installed. From that moment on, he vowed to make a spiritual difference and guide the people of God to and through salvation. This was manifested in the vision of the church that we know of today.

The vision we follow is, let’s all say it together, “Making Christ central in the congregation, community, and creation” This is derived from Acts 1:8 which reads “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”
By selecting this vision and scripture, Bishop Brown displayed his obedience to the Lord and reception of the holy spirit. This placed him in a position of power to recognize and meet the needs of the people and to continue to serve as a witness and spokesman of God’s grace.

This could not be accomplished without the possession of a variety of qualities. One of those qualities that really stands out to me is Bishop’s magnitude of faith. Bishop on several occasions has taken leaps of faith in moving this church forward even down to the building we worship in today. I remember when we first moved into this building and how everyone was amazed that Bishop placed a bible in the cement to ensure we stood on a firm foundation. This not only displayed his magnitude of faith but also his standard of excellence. As the bible declares in 1 Timothy 3: 1, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” Far too many times we hear of other churches and pastors who struggle as a result of faulty leadership decisions. But o what joy it is to know that even when our Bishop encounters dilemmas, he has the wisdom and relationship with God to properly handle them.

The bible also declares, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18). As established, God has given the leader of this house a vision in which he has the noble task to shepherd God’s people. It is then the duty of our pastor to share and connect the people of God to the vision of God, which brings us to our theme for today, “pastor connecting people with vision”. Our scriptural reference is Numbers 12:6 which declares, “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” The vision for the church is evidence of how bishop is being guided by the Lord to better the kingdom of God. Bettering the kingdom is accomplished through connecting to the congregation, community, and creation.

Since becoming pastor, Bishop Brown has initiated and supported several ministries that encourage not only the building of the kingdom but also the people of the kingdom. I am particularly apart of several ministries, some of which include the youth and young adult ministry, Sunday school, Vacation bible school, and the drama ministry.