Dr. Bishop Ronald Elwood Hill Brown

1947 - 2019

Bishop Dr. Ronald Elwood Hill Brown ORANGEBURG - Funeral services for Bishop Dr. Ronald E. Hill Brown will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2019, 12:00 noon (viewing begins at 10:00 a.m.) at the South Atlantic Seventh-Day Adventist Convention Center, 524 Neeses Highway, Orangeburg, South Carolina. Entombment will follow in Crestlawn Memorial Gardens, 4830 Columbia Road, Orangeburg, South Carolina. Public viewing be held Friday, May 17, 2019, 12:00 noon 8:00 p.m., at Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Temple, 1161 Amelia Street, Orangeburg, South Carolina. Leevy's Funeral Home, Taylor Street Chapel, Columbia, SC is in charge. Bishop Dr. Ronald Elwood Hill Brown was born on Friday, March 14, 1947, in Savannah, GA, to the late Lillie Mae Brown and John Hill, Sr. At eleven years old, his aunt, Ida Mae Cooper, who raised him, and other family members, moved to Brooklyn, NY, where he completed his public school education. He began his public ministry at age sixteen as a member of the Deliverance Evangelistic Center in Brooklyn, NY, under the leadership of Apostle Auturo Skinner. As a young evangelist, Ronald Brown traveled extensively both nationally and internationally preaching and reaching the lost for Christ. In 1969, he moved to Orangeburg, SC. On September 21, 1969, he opened Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Temple, Inc. (formerly Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Evangelistic Center). Under his leadership, two other churches were established: Lighthouse Evangelistic Center in Savannah, GA in November, 1971, and Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Temple of Miami, Florid, in December, 1988. Dr. Ronald E. Brown served in ministry for over 56 years and is known as the Preacher's Preacher. In addition to the spoken Word, Dr. Brown also published two books: The Disturbing Christ and Behold Aaron's Rod. In 1973, Pastor Brown met and married Vivian "Vickie" Bowman, and to this union one son, Mario Mendell, was born. He raised another son, Curtis Renoldo. Pastor Brown was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree, and the Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the United Christian College in Goldsboro, NC. He also received many commendations and certificates of merit. To his honor, thirteen commissioners and other state officials proclaimed December 13 as "Ronald E. Brown Day" in Savannah, GA. On July 17, 1987, Dr. Brown was licensed and appointed Bishop of the United Pentecostal Churches of Deliverance, Winston Salem, NC to head the Faith Tabernacle Jurisdiction, under the auspices of Bishop S. D. Johnson. Bishop Brown released three CDs, Live! Having Good Old Fashion Church, Live! Having Good Old Fashioned Church Part II and Sounds of Pentecost. On Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Bishop Dr. Ronald Elwood Hill Brown transitioned from labor to reward. Those left awaiting a heavenly reunion are his two sons, Mario M. (Joy) Brown Winans, Fort Lee, NJ and Bishop Curtis R. (Maria) Brown, Miami, FL; five grandchildren, Steven Winans, Mario Winans II, Skyler Winans, Rio Winans, and Cameron Brown; one great-granddaughter, Summer Winans; his spiritual father, Bishop Matthew Johnson, Sr., St. Albans, NY; six brothers, John (Gayle) Hill, Jr., Charlotte, NC, Pastor VanDyke (Davonia) Freeman, Sr., Charlotte, NC, Eugene (Martha) Riley, Columbia, SC, Melvin (Esther) Riley, Orangeburg, SC, Bishop Edward (Carleen) Riley, Orangeburg, SC, and Frederick Samuel, Jr., Jersey City, NJ; nine sisters, Shirley (Fordham) Owens, Charlotte, NC, Hiler Denise Garrison, Philadelphia, PA, Deborah (Hawthorne) Singleton, Ewing, NJ, Wanda Wheeler, Bristol, PA, Barbara Irvin, Brooklyn, NY, Idella (James) Crawford, Orangeburg, SC, Betty Riley, Charlotte, NC, Carrie (Clarence) Riley Collins, Columbia, SC, and Evelyn Riley Clark, Orangeburg, SC; his beloved Faith Tabernacle Church Family, his faithful and devoted presiding elder, Elder Larry Palmer; a host of fellow laborers in the Gospel, and many spiritual sons, daughters, and grandchildren.