Pastor Ernest Lee Brown was born on November 2, 1955 in Huttig, AK to Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Brown.  He is the fifth child of eleven children.  In 1960, Mr. Curtis Brown brought his family west to Santa Cruz, CA for a better life.  Pastor Brown is a graduate of Santa Cruz High School.



     Pastor Brown came to know the Lord at the age of twenty under the late Pastor Vernon L. Warren.  Pastor Warren was also his spiritual father.  He then married his high school sweetheart, Sis. Ruby Thomas, now Sis. Ruby Brown.  Out of this union came two beautiful daughters, Angela Nicole and Bridget Renee Lusk(Brown).



     Pastor Brown was appointed Sunday School Supt. In 1977.  He served faithfully in that position.  In 1989, Pastor Brown felt a divine call to this ministry on his life.  He continued to serve faithfully in the Sunday School Department and by the grace of God, in May 1989, he was appointed Assistant Pastor under the late Pastor Vernon L. Warren.  Pastor Brown served steadfastly in that capacity for seven years.



     He was ordained in June 1997.  During this time, his spiritual father was extremely ill and went home o be with the Lord in October 1997.  Immediately following, our Jurisdictional Prelate, Bishop W. W. Hamilton appointed him Elder In Charge and in June of 1999, saw fit to appoint him Pastor of Word of Life COGIC.



     Under the tutelage of the late Pastor Vernon Warren, Pastor Brown was certified in Biblical Hermeneutics, Bible Ethics, Marriage & Family Counseling, Church Doctrine (Ecclesiology), and Evangelical Training.  Elder Brown was enrolled in The International Seminary under the auspices of the late Dr. Hannibal Williams, Sr.



     Under Pastor Brown’s leadership, Word of Life COGIC has continued to grow and flourish.  Word of Life is and always will be a church that reaches out to a dying, suffering world and offers them hope!