The Brookwood Story

The Brookwood Story is a testimony to God's faithfulness to his people. As always, what God begins...God blesses.

Brookwood began in October 1968 as a mission of Mountain Brook Baptist Church. The 85 original charter members first met at Brookwood Forest Elementary School. However, they quickly outgrew those humble beginnings. In 1969, they constructed a chapel, kitchen facility, and educational space on our present site. Additional growth led to the addition of a sanctuary, fellowship hall, and more educational space in 1978. Continued growth led to the construction of three more floors of education space in 1987.

From the beginning, missions has been important at Brookwood. As a mission church, our earliest members felt called to put missions at the core of its identity. Missions are part of the DNA of Brookwood.

Equally important has been our commitment to Bible-centered education and discipleship for members of all ages.

In recent years, dynamic worship has become a priority at Brookwood. Worshipful music and relevant preaching are hallmarks of our Sunday morning services.

God has gifted us with leaders committed to do His will. Our founding pastor, Bryant Strain, began Brookwood in 1968 and guided its growth until his retirement in 1993. Pastor Paul Basden came to Brookwood as our second pastor in 1994. Paul left in February 2002 to begin a new church in his home state of Texas.

On Sunday, January 26, 2003, the church extended a call to Dr. Barry Howard to serve as pastor. He and his wife Amanda joined our church family. Barry served through the end of August 2004 when he had to take a leave of absence from the ministry due to the grave illness of his father who later passed away. Dr. Roger Lovette served as Interim Pastor for a year.

Brookwood member, Dr. Jim Barnette served as Interim Preacher until the search committee called a new pastor in August 2006. Dr. Jim Haskell served as Lead Pastor from August 2006 through February 2008. Dr. Jim Barnette returned in March 2008 as Interim Pastor and then was called as Teaching Pastor in October 2008. On January 1, 2009, Rev. Tim Clark joined the staff as Directional Pastor.

As we look back over our brief history, it is easy to break into song and cry out, "To God be the glory! Great things he has done!"