Pastor Charlie Brown - Executive Pastor
It is my honor to be a servant of our loving heavenly Father and to serve this congregation and staff. How many of you growing up got mixed signals, at least you thought they were mixed up, from what God had planned for you in your future. I could never understand the call to be in the business world and how being a pastor could fit together. I am sure that must have gone through Joseph’s mind as he sat in an Egyptian prison. It took me until I was 45 years old to get a glimpse of how the pieces of His puzzle fit together. My position at Mt. Oak is Executive Pastor. It is my privilege to support our Senior Pastor which allows him to pray, preach and be the shepherd of our incredible fellowship.

This year 2007, I celebrated my 62nd birthday yet I still think and feel as I did at 35. My wife (Annette) and I reside in Bowie. We have two children Creg and Wendy who live with their spouses, Lisa and James in Glen Burnie, Maryland with our five grandchildren. Annette was born and raised in the Newport News/Hampton area of Virginia. Her family owned a furniture store in Newport News. Annette went to a private Christian school, in New Market Virginia, attended Columbia Union College and later earned her business certificate from Anne Arundel Community College.

I was born at the end of the Second World War in the Naval Academy Hospital in Annapolis. I grew up in Annapolis, attended Annapolis High School, graduated from Anne Arundel Community College with a degree in Business and Public Administration and attended the University of Maryland majoring in Business and Economics. It was during my first year in college that I played in the newly organized Annapolis Symphony Orchestra playing second chair bassoon. While in college, I worked as a jewelry repairman at Tilghman’s Jewelry Store in Annapolis. Later, I worked for Nationwide Insurance Company as an insurance agent and later as their Regional Accounting Manager. Next I was employed by Shields Associates, a major carpet subcontractor in Beltsville, as a Vice President and General Manger. It was my wife’s and my pleasure to also own and operate Family Floors for over a dozen years which is still open in Severna Park Maryland. We also owned and operated a Christian Bookstore called Sword and Shield.

During the years I worked in the business world, I had some interesting experiences as a lay person. At Severna Methodist Church I taught Sr. High Sunday school class, served on the Administrative Board, Finance Committee and was a youth sponsor. At Cornerstone Assemblies of God in Bowie, I was a youth leader, lead and taught a College and Careers class, served as treasurer and served on the Church Council. At New Life in Capitol Heights, again I served as treasurer, served on Church Council, taught alternating Wednesday evening services and served briefly as interim pastor. It was while I was at New Life that I had the opportunity to teach the interns at Teen Challenge. I will never know where the time came from but this I do know, my God redeems time!

At 45 years old, I felt called to full-time ministry and for the next five years I went to Berean University majoring in Bible and Theology and graduated in 1996. At that point Annette and I got this feeling that God was calling us to minister in Ft. Myers, Florida. I went there thinking I would somehow immediately pastor. But I again was involved at First Assembly as a volunteer serving as the Director of Men’s Ministry. I was blessed to work for a while as General Manager of a communications company and later to be the Fiscal Officer for the Lee County Manager in Ft. Myers.

Finally a full-time pastoral opportunity opened up at First Assembly in Ft. Myers as the Outreach Pastor. As Outreach Pastor, I made over 500 hospital calls a year; handled benevolence, and visitor assimilation. We built the Bread Brigade which each week deliver freshly baked bread to every first time visitor to Ft. Assembly. Our Associate took a senior pastor’s position in Indiana and I was asked to become the Associate Pastor to the Senior Pastor. It was a wild and wonderful time and we were able to build a 46,000 sq. ft. children centers. In 2004, we were invited to return to Maryland and join the staff of Mt. Oak as the Assistant Pastor. What an incredible God we serve!