Reverend John W. Brown, III will preach July 19, 2012 at the Foolishness of Preaching Festival at 7 p.m. at Gifts of Life Ministries located at 1542 Jackson Avenue. John W. Brown, III is the eldest of two sons born to the union of the late John Brown, Jr., and Thelma Peay Brown, of Columbia, South Carolina. He was reared in Columbia, South Carolina, where he attended the city’s public schools. He furthered his undergraduate and graduate education at Dartmouth College, the University of Virginia, and the University of South Carolina. Rev. Brown is a graduate of the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, and the 122nd session of the FBI National Academy. He is married to the former Cynthia L. Sims, and they are the proud parents of three adult children: John W. Brown IV, Ronald E. Brown, and Katharine E. Brown.
Upon his confession of faith, he was baptized and given the right hand of fellowship into the Saint John Baptist Church, Columbia, South Carolina under the pastorate of the late Reverend Roscoe C. Wilson, Sr. He was an active member of several auxiliaries at Saint John Baptist Church, and served as a trustee for several years until relocating to Houston, Texas. While residing in Houston, TX he joined the Yale Street Baptist Church, under the pastorate of Reverend J. T. Holcombe. Upon relocating to Virginia he joined the Mount Olive Baptist Church, Woodbridge, Virginia, under the pastorate of the late Reverend Frederick L. Ray. It was under the auspices of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church and the tutelage of Rev. Ray, that he was licensed and later ordained to the Gospel Ministry in June 1989. Rev. Brown is currently a member of the Greater Middle Baptist Church, 4982 Knight Arnold Road, Memphis, TN under the pastorate of Reverend Benjamin L. Hooks, where he serves as an Associate Minister.
He holds membership in the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the NAACP, and the Prince Hall Masonic family.
Rev. Brown served eleven years with the Columbia, South Carolina Police Department, where he held the rank of Commander and headed the Criminal Investigative Bureau of the department as the “Chief of Detectives” prior to receiving an appointment as a Special Agent of the FBI in 1982.
Following graduation from New Agents’ Training in 1983, he has served in the Columbia, S.C., Houston, TX, and Washington Field Offices of the FBI prior to being promoted in 1989 to Supervisory Special Agent and assigned to FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. SSA Brown was transferred to the Memphis Division in 1992 and supervised squads which handled all the investigative programs of the FBI. He retired on June 30, 2008 with 25 ½ years of service to the FBI.
