Rev. Amos Brown gives last sermon at San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church
Reverend Amos Brown receives heartfelt send-off after decades leading San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church
Civil rights icon Reverend Amos Brown delivered his final sermon Sunday as senior pastor of Third Baptist Church, receiving a heartfelt send-off from community leaders and congregants. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Governor Gavin Newsom, and local leaders from across the Bay Area all gathered to honor Brown.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Civil rights icon Reverend Amos Brown delivered his final sermon Sunday as senior pastor of Third Baptist Church, receiving a heartfelt send-off from community leaders and congregants.
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Governor Gavin Newsom, and local leaders from across the Bay Area all gathered to honor Brown.
Brown, who has led Third Baptist for nearly five decades, also served as president of the San Francisco NAACP chapter and was once appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by then-Mayor Willie Brown.
"He managed to get the lawyers to save the affordable housing at his church," Willie Brown said. "He kept it from being converted into profit-making housing."
Newsom praised Brown’s legacy, calling it "a remarkable life you have led. It’s a life of example. You’re a man of courage, conviction."
Rev. Amos Brown stepping down from pulpit at Third Baptist Church
Civil rights activist Rev. Amos Brown is delivering his final sermon as senior pastor of San Francisco's Third Baptist Church this Sunday, as he steps down from the role he’s had for nearly 50 years.
Linda Martley-Jordan, second vice president of the San Francisco NAACP, highlighted Brown’s lifelong commitment to civil rights, recalling that he started Mississippi’s first NAACP Youth Council as a young teen.
"Here in San Francisco and across California, when things get really rough and people don’t have the answers, I can call him," Martley-Jordan added.
Despite his many prominent public roles, congregants described him as a steady, present force in their daily lives.
"He’s why I’m here today, why I’m clean and sober," said one longtime member. "Without the cameras and the lights, he does the work."
On Saturday, city leaders also gathered on Pierce Street to rename Pierce St. adjacent to the church "Dr. Amos Brown Way".