Change is afoot in the Grace London office. Dawn arrived last week. Jeremy's office is empty. And next month, Tobias and Angela Brown and their three daughters will join our church family, with Tobias taking the role of Associate Pastor.
Tobias' story is profound, and one email doesn't do it justice. It's a testimony filled with the redeeming kindness of God, as he shares below.
Tell us about yourself.
I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, and I have two brothers. I met my wife, Angela, at Moody Bible Institute, and we got married in 2005. We have three beautiful girls, Gabriella (17), Haven (13) and Iola (10). That’s our little pride, and we have been in London for almost seven years now.
Please tell us about how you came to love Jesus.
In 1995, I was convicted of a violent crime—armed robbery with six counts of aggravated battery—and was looking at 15 to 30 years in prison. I pleaded guilty, and I ended up with six.
After almost exactly two years in jail, a transformation happened. I was on lockdown—in ‘the hole’—because of a riot I was a part of. It was essentially solitary confinement. A prison within the prison. Confined space and separate from the general population. It was awful.
There was this Catholic priest who would often walk up and down the gallery and ask people if they wanted to attend Mass. I told him no, so he asked if he could leave me with a New Testament Bible. I started reading the book of John. (Someone asked me a few weeks ago, ‘Why John?’ I don't really know. It was just where the Lord took me!)
God revealed himself to me from the very first sentences of that gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I was hooked. I kept reading, and the more I read, the more my eyes began to see who Jesus was. It all culminated with the declaration of Thomas in John chapter 20, “My Lord and my God”. I saw Jesus Christ was my Lord, my God, and I asked for forgiveness for my sins. My journey of faith began in a 15x15-foot prison cell.
Tobias, Angela, Gabriella, Haven & Iola
How did you go from prison to pastor?
There was this natural motivation for evangelism and discipleship when I got out of jail. My church family really saw this and affirmed God's pastoral calling on my life. After my first sermon, one lady came up to me and said, ‘It was a bit rough, but
I do sense God's anointing on your life to preach.'
A few weeks later, she told me about the Moody Bible Institute and its tuition-free training programme. I was like ‘Man, that’s incredible.’ At that time, I was on parole and couldn't leave the State to start college, but here was this opportunity in Chicago to study for ministry. God had opened the door.
I learnt so much there; the importance of studying the Bible, the need for community and prayer. It was also there that God began to birth within my heart a desire for multicultural ministry. I never had much experience with this before, coming from the south side of Chicago, a majority black context. But here, I was meeting and praying with people from all over the world—Korea, Africa, Germany—and from completely different parts of the States. It awakened within me a desire for racial reconciliation.
Where did God take you after this?
My wife and I moved to New York, where we stayed for just over ten years. I initially worked at Redeemer Presbyterian before taking an associate pastor role at Trinity Grace, where I stayed for six and a half years. But in 2018, my wife and I started sensing that God was calling us to leave. We had no idea where we would go, so it ushered us into a season of fasting and praying.
At that time, All Souls London was looking for a minister. We lived in London when I was studying my master's in theology, so when we saw the vacancy, we thought, ‘How awesome would it be for us to go back’. I applied for it and, a few months later, received an email offering the job. We made the move in 2019 and served there for three years before moving to a church in Brockley, southeast London, where I worked as senior minister.
And here at Grace London, what will your role as pastor involve?
One of my roles will be looking after the 10 am service and providing overall pastoral care for that congregation. Being a pastoral presence. I'm so looking forward to it because I’ve already met quite a few cool people from that service. People talk about the 5 pm service being the place where the cool people are. I don't know, man. There are some really cool parents, you know, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know, investing in, and loving them.
Tobias’ first official day will be 1st August, but you'll find him at the Waterloo AM service before then. Please keep him, Angela, and the girls in your prayers as they make this transition.
Hear more of Tobias’ story here.