Bishop Thomas Louis Brown, Sr.

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

CME Strategic Plan

CME Strategic Plan Analysis

Third District

First District

Second District

Sixth District

Fifth District

Fourth District

Seventh District

Eighth District

Ninth District

Tenth District

Eleventh District

Biographical Snapshot

Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr. was elected the 54th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church on June 28, 2006, in Memphis, Tennessee. A distinguished scholar and pastoral counselor, he currently serves as the Presiding Prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District and is the Chair of the Department of Christian Education.

Current Roles & Leadership

Presiding Prelate: Sixth Episcopal District (assigned 2018).
Departmental Chair: Chair of the General Department of Christian Education.
Former Episcopacy: Served as the Presiding Prelate of the Fourth Episcopal District (Louisiana and Mississippi) from 2006–2018.

Ecclesiastical Career

Pastoral Leadership: His extensive itinerant ministry includes serving Rice Chapel (Durant, MS), Murray Memorial (Covington, GA), St. James (Columbus, GA), Butler Street (Atlanta, GA), and College Park (College Park, GA).
Church Planting: Served as the organizing pastor of Good News Community Church in Lithonia, Georgia.
Academic Leadership: Served for 16 years (1990–2006) as the sixth President/Dean of the Phillips School of Theology at the ITC, where he established the Annual CME Pastors’ Conference.
Global Engagement: Delegate to the General Conference since 1978 and representative at World Methodist Conferences in Kenya and Brazil.

Education & Academic Background

B.A. degree: University of Mississippi (1973).
Master of Divinity (with honors): Phillips School of Theology at the ITC (1976).
Doctor of Theology (with honors): Pastoral Counseling from the ITC in cooperation with Emory University/Candler School of Theology and Columbia Seminary (1991).
Scholarship: Member of the Theta Phi Honor Society and a noted adjunct professor of CME History, Polity, and Pastoral Care.

Historical Service & Contributions

Civil Rights & Advocacy: Founding member of the Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta; active advocate for the homeless and those on death row.
Civic Participation: Longtime member of the NAACP, SCLC, and Urban League.
Valedictorian: Graduated top of his class from Walker High School in Oakland, Mississippi.

Personal Life

Born on June 21, 1951, to Stephen and Lillie H. Brown, he is the eighth of nine children. Bishop Brown is married to Dr. Louise Baker-Brown. They have two children, Charisa Nicole Brown-Jefferson and Thomas, Jr.