RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia Baptist couple whose involvement in mission and ministry has “been a model for the rest of us” was honored Oct. 24 with an award from the Religious Herald.
Kent and Ann Brown of Gretna, Va., were given the Jeremiah Bell Jeter Award, presented periodically by the Herald’s board of trustees to honor individuals, churches or institutions “making stellar contributions to advancing the Redeemer’s Kingdom” and who “exemplify those Baptist principles, freedoms and mission commitments historically associated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia.”
The award is named for a 19th-century editor of the Herald who was also a missionary, pastor, diplomat, denominational leader and author.
Jim White (right) presents a framed copy of an 1880 edition of the Religious Herald to Kent and Ann Brown, recipients of the Herald's Jeremiah Bell Jeter Award. At right is a portrait of Jeter, a 19th-century Virginia Baptist leader who served as editor of the paper.
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“This is a couple which has been a model for the rest of us,” said Herald editor Jim White, in presenting the award at a dinner at Second Baptist Church in Richmond, Va.
The Browns were officers in a family-owned telephone company in Southside Virginia. Since selling the company the family has engaged in philanthropy and mission activities around the world, and have been active in Virginia Baptist life.
Kent currently serves on the boards of Baptist Theological Seminary and the Virginia Baptist Historical Society. Ann is president of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia, serves on the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and is a trustee of the Virginia Baptist Foundation.
Both have participated in dozens of mission trips in the United States and overseas, and have been active supporters of a children’s home and seminary in Kerala, India, which partners with the BGAV.
The Browns are part of an extended family with a long record of service in Virginia Baptist life. Ann’s grandmother helped organize local chapters of Woman’s Missionary Union in Virginia’s Staunton River Baptist Association and her father, Ed Fitzgerald of Gretna, is a former member of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. Her aunt, Sue Fitzgerald, was a founding trustee of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
Kent’s father, Allen Brown, was head of Virginia Baptists’ church music department for more than 30 years, until his retirement in 1994.
The Browns’ sons have continued the tradition — Robert is pastor of Blackstone (Va.) Baptist Church and William is a Virginia Baptist Venturer, serving in Israel.
“What brings a smile to my face when I see the Kent and Ann is the light-hearted attitudes they exhibit in leading a holy life,” BGAV executive director John Upton told participants at the Oct. 24 dinner, which included representatives of many of the ministries the couple has supported. “Too often we have convinced many people that living the Christian life is not as enjoyable as the alternative.”
The Browns’ sense of humor is a reminder that “laughter at ourselves will protect us from self-righteousness,” he said. “Thank you for keeping the spirit of Virginia Baptists alive.”
Fred Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, summarized the life and contributions of the award’s namesake, a “figure from our heritage” with whom “we have lost touch.”
“We live in the opening of the 21st century,” he said. “But look around you for the evidence of Jeremiah Bell Jeter. The territory which he visited as a state missionary in the 1820s has been claimed and cultivated by Virginia Baptists. The churches which he led and the one he started, First African Baptist Church in Richmond, still exist. The mission boards which he led still minister. The educational institution to which he invested his life, the University of Richmond, is one of today’s leading universities in America. The Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia which began around his dining room table has never waned in its grand purpose.
“And his beloved newspaper, the Religious Herald, is still publishing under the same masthead in the same city where it began in 1828,” Anderson added. “It is still a free press for a free people. It is true to the past and true to the present — still maintaining a respected voice yet using all the modern tools of communication. I think Dr. Jeter would still recognize it and after tonight I hope you recognize him.”
The Jeter Award was initiated in 2001. It is not presented annually but only when the Herald’s trustees determine a recipient has exhibited “stellar” qualities. Previous recipients include Alma Hunt, a native Virginian and national Baptist mission leader who died in 2008; Julian Pentecost, editor of the Herald from 1970-1992; and Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance from 1988-2007.
Robert Dilday ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.