By: Billy O'Regan
On December 8, 2019, Fr. James Brown, OAR passed away peacefully at the age of 98. Fr. Brown was a Former Spiritual Director for the TEC Conference and the primary author of the TEC Manual. Here, we hope to share some of his life story and what he has meant to TEC over the course of his many years of dedicated service to youth and young adults.
Fr. James Brown was born to John and Frances Brown in Snyder, Nebraska on June 8, 1921. His father was an electrician. He was the second of four children and maintained warm memories of the sense of community from his formative years in Snyder. From a young age, Fr. Brown was imbued with a genuine amiability, neighborliness, perspective and regard for others. He entered the Augustinian minor seminary in Kansas City in 1938, when he was 16 years old. He was ordained a priest in 1946 in Atchison, Kansas.
His priestly ministry was varied and deeply fulfilling for him. On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of his ordination he reflected that he had never had an unhappy day as a priest. “The fountain of inner joy that was mine on Ordination Day has never ceased to flow.” He studied at Catholic University, receiving a doctorate in Canon Law. He taught at Tagaste Monastery in Suffern, N.Y. and then at the seminary in Kansas City from 1971-74. He served as vocations director of the New England states, founded a minor seminary in Norfolk, Conn., served as a pastor in parishes in Kansas City and St. Joseph, Mo., and served as director of St. Joseph's Center for the Apostolate in New York City. While in New York, he also directed the Cursillio Retreat Center.
He became Spiritual Director at Boys Town in Omaha for four years. A highlight of his time at Boys Town was escorting St. Teresa of Calcutta during her visit to Omaha in 1976. After she received the royal tour of Boys Town from all the dignitaries, the one question Mother Teresa had for Fr. Brown when they were alone was “Are the boys here loved?” Father Brown always used that value in shaping his ministry with young people.
He was the first Director of Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Omaha, serving 13 years, until 1995. He had the wisdom to gather theology teachers at the Catholic high schools to begin shaping youth ministry because parishes didn’t have youth ministers at that time. Programs in the parishes for young people during those days consisted mostly of CYO. Father Brown brought in national experts to train parish leaders in youth ministry. He himself created a great training program for volunteers in youth ministry across the diocese, calling it VITA (Volunteers in Training and Action). Coworker Joan Weber recalled “We drove to all 12 deaneries of the archdiocese to provide this training! I always smiled when he used St. Cunegunda Parish as his hypothetical model for what a youth-friendly parish looked like!” While working in the Youth Ministry Office, he began a 21 year residency at St. James Parish in Omaha. He would regard St. James as his home for the rest of his life.
Fr. Brown also introduced the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) movement to Omaha in 1975 and provided strong, visionary leadership for TEC in Omaha for many years. In 1980, he became involved with the TEC Conference and provided key insights and leadership which left an indelible mark on this worldwide ministry. Beginning in 1983, he led the effort to study various manuals in the network of TEC communities and how they related to TEC’s origins. He gathered a group of gifted leaders to refocus the TEC movement by creating a normative manual. He helped to reconnect TEC leaders with their founders, Fr. Matthew Fedewa and Dorothy Gereke. After years of study and dialogue, he served as the primary author of the TEC Conference Manual, the first full draft being completed in 1997. It contains more than 400 pages of beautifully written resources. In 1998, Fr. Brown accompanied Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, Rev. Matt Fedewa, & Dorothy Gereke to present the manual to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, a highlight of a lifetime for him. For many years, he served as Spiritual Director of the TEC Conference, leading countless workshops and retreats for TEC leaders from around the world.
He was called to live and serve at St. Augustine Priory in Oxnard, CA in 2006, where he continued to work on behalf of the TEC Conference to see that the Manual was translated into Spanish.
Friends shared some of these remembrances:
From Cardinal Blase Cupich:
Fr. Jim Brown was a pioneer in bringing TEC to the Archdiocese of Omaha and I am proud to say that I worked with him on the first TEC retreat there. He was ever youthful, no matter his age. He endeared himself to generations of young people, because they all knew he cared about them and because they encountered Christ through him. We commend this good and faithful servant to the mercy and love of God.
From Joan Weber:
I learned so much from Father Brown, including why a Southern Comfort Manhattan was better than a plain old Manhattan! 😊 He was completely dedicated to bringing youth to Christ. Any time I went to the Youth Office on the weekend, Fr. Brown was there, working on a new idea or project. He was a great storyteller. He loved sharing the story of living in Rome and knowing when Pope John XXIII would sneak out of the Vatican to visit the poor and sick and imprisoned. The pope rode in a Volkswagen beetle, and the tiny car was tilted to one side due to his weight. (I never knew whether or not to believe Father Brown on that one.) He also shared that when he and the other national TEC leaders presented the TEC Manual to Pope John Paul II, the pope asked him how old he was. Father Brown’s response was “A year younger than you, Holy Father!”
From Sr. Joy Connealy:
He was a gifted man with many talents – brilliant and fun-loving. He enjoyed telling jokes for the youth and always had a flair for the dramatic. He had a stick sniffing trick that was always a hit. He often said “No one is so bad that they can’t serve as a good example.” He believed in the goodness of even the most difficult personalities and called that forth.
In the same day he might be responding to an issue from his Canon Law degree and later cleaning out a closet at the TEC Center. He wasn’t afraid to do what needed to be done. He had a wonderful ability to call community together and motivate them to serve. He built community wherever he went and made Christ the center.
Even though he has been gone from Omaha for many years, when friends would get together we’d comment on how much he meant to us. God rest his soul.
I’m especially grateful for his commitment to:
FAITH – his love for and understanding of the Paschal Mystery has helped to shape many lives. His love for Jesus and his Church came alive when he witnessed to his faith.
FAMILY – Family in the broadest sense is something that he cherished and taught. I’ve learned the value of community and relationships through his nurturing of family and community.
FUN – His life-giving spirit enlivened any gathering and called forth the spirit of joy that our faith demands. His stories and games were a gift that made the experience of faith more real for young and old alike.
CIRCLES OF LOVE & FAITH – His circles became a trademark and we are grateful that he was able to see the big picture and put a structure to our sharing the faith. He called friends together and reminded them that Jesus is present in order to support the important work of youth ministry.
Thank you, Fr. Brown, for your steadfast, loving service to TEC and especially for your commitment to the young people who do and will know God’s love more fully because of your dedication.
From Janet Drey:
I had the privilege of working very closely with Fr. Jim during my tenure as Executive Director of the TEC Conference from June 1996 to December 2005. Most of these years were focused on completing the “new” TEC Conference Manual, then designing and providing regional workshops on its implementation. Fr. Jim could clearly imagine all the pieces in his head years before the manual took shape on paper. When I arrived in 1996, the TEC Board (as it was called then) was beyond frustrated with a manual that has been promised, but not delivered. Soon I began to understand the situation more clearly.
I know from my own experience that writing is a discipline, and with Fr. Jim’s many other pastoral commitments, it was difficult for him to give steady attention to the work. Because of our previous relationship as diocesan directors of youth & young adult ministry, Fr. Jim allowed me to work closely with him and offer support through the process. However, once he started writing, I could see clearly the depth and breadth of his profound understanding of the TEC process gleaned from years of summer gatherings to study various components of TEC. Combined with his extensive background in theology, a deep contemplative spirituality, and years of training and pastoral ministry to youth and young adults, Fr. Jim could see and eventually articulate the “big picture” of TEC in all its pastoral magnificence in the lives of older adolescents, as well as in the larger church. Fr. Matt Fedewa used to say that he created TEC, then Fr. Jim described to him what he did. It was my great honor to work closely with Fr. Jim during these years and I developed a very deep respect for him.
At the same time, I fondly remember Fr. Jim for his determined personality. He could be a stubborn one, and I remember a few times when I stood toe to toe with him after he had become obstinate with someone or something. We were always able to get through these situations after each of us vented our frustrations; then we continued forward. I came to realize that underneath his tough skin was a tender heart who was nurturing and protective of what was so very precious to him.
Fr. Jim was always grateful for the little kindnesses that people offered to him, and he regularly took the time to write people to express his gratitude. In one such letter to me (June 2015), he expressed his gratitude for a gift package that was sent to him after the TEC 50th Anniversary celebration with pictures, program booklet, and a tape recording of greetings from people he remembered working with through the years. He wrote: What makes an event like this so very special is that it gives us an opportunity to express our gratitude to all the persons linked to our lives through the love and friendship that the TEC Movement generates and sustains. These relationships are what makes life precious and through which we become a grace to one another. I recently came across in my files an article I wrote some years ago on “TEC and the Sacrament of Human Friendship”. TEC is one of the main reasons why my 77 years of Priesthood have been filled with such interesting and joyful experiences. TEC is a gentle, yet powerful, actual grace linking lives and Christ together”.
Fr. Jim, thank you for your years of service to the TEC Movement. Thank you for touching our lives with your friendship, and allowing God’s grace to draw us together into the sacrament of human friendship. Through TEC, we came to encounter Christ and one another, and we were changed forever.
Rest in God’s peace with our love and affection.
Funeral arrangements at this time are as follows:
Vigil - Dec. 17th at 7PM, Mass - Dec. 18th at 10:30AM at the St. Augustine Priory (400 Sherwood Way, Oxnard, CA 93033)
Father will be flown to Omaha for memorial services. VISITATION begins Thursday, Dec. 19, at St. James Catholic Church in Omaha at 5PM with a WAKE SERVICE at 7pm. Mass of Christian Burial at St. James Catholic Church Dec. 20 at 11AM.
He will then be buried at Mt. Calvary cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas.
