Since 1900, the Christian Century has published news, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of religion in a pluralistic society.
© 2023 The Christian Century.
Amos Brown, Kamala Harris pastor, for his activism for civil rights and reparations
Amos Brown speaks at a rally about reparations for African Americans as Supervisor Shamman Walton, left, listens outdoors at San Francisco City Hall, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric RisbergArray File)
Amos Brown, longtime pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, describing Vice President Kamala Harris’ connection to his church.
“She’s an old lady” in the church, he said in an interview Monday.
Or why, when talking about him that same year, he praised “my pastor” as a guy who had been his mentor for a long time.
Brown and his spouse prayed that Harris would “receive what Micah 6:8 records in the Bible, what the Lord requires: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with his God,” Brown said.
He prayed that Harris would continue his crusade “in the spirit of our ancestors. “
“She’s very close to our church family,” Brown said.
Brown’s history with Harris also extends to his family. A civil rights activist and Native American from Jackson, Mississippi, who trained with Martin Luther King Jr. in a Morehouse College class in the 1960s, Brown spoke of knowing Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, as well as others who were involved in civil rights activism.
He was once a leader of the Baptist churches in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and St. John’s. Paul, in Minnesota, and has been pastor of Third Baptist since 1976.
He added: “That is why Vice President Harris, early in her educational and political career, joined this church. »
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown opposed reopening churches too soon.
In 2020, Brown was among a list of 350 devoted leaders who supported the Biden/Harris campaign.
This week, however, Brown appeared to publish a thinly veiled complaint against former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican candidate. Referencing how versions of Christianity’s “Golden Rule” can be discovered in various religions, Brown asked how immigrants can simply be called “bad, cruel” or “rapists,” a reference to descriptions used throughout Trump.
“Why would you do that to people?” Brown said.
Early in his tenure at Third Baptist, the church established a summer program, a music academy, and a subsequent enrichment program with a local synagogue.
Beyond his church, Brown has been to national and global events, including the 2001 United Nations Conference on Race and Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, where he represented the National NAACP Board of Trustees.
In what might seem like matchups, Brown has joined forces with others outside of Black Baptist circles to collaborate.
In 2014, Brown and evangelist Franklin Graham wrote a joint op-ed on violence in USA Today in the wake of the police murders of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York.
Brown is the namesake of an agreement that brought young adults to Ghana with leaders of the NAACP and the LDS Church to learn about the history of slavery.
“It is a blessing to me that even in my genealogical chart there is a meeting of self-determination, enlightened piety, social justice and the highest and noblest respect for education,” he told the San Francisco newspaper. —Religious News Service
We would love to hear from you. Let us know what you think of this article by writing a letter to the editors.
More than 200 Christian leaders sign letter calling for ceasefire in Gaza
Empathy for the demagogue
Five religious facts about Trump’s vice presidential nominee, J. D. Vance
Did God interfere to save Trump’s life?
Judges’ regulations oppose Texas Attorney General Paxton in his crusade against migrant shelters
Since 1900, the Christian Century has published news, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of religion in a pluralistic society.
© 2024 The Christian Century. All rights reserved.