Central congregation says its goodbyes to popular preacher

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Departing Central Church of Christ minister Kirk Brothers finishes packing up with wife, Cindy, for their move to Columbia, Tenn. Brothers said he has enjoyed his time at Central. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

After almost four years as pastor of Central Church of Christ, Rev. Kirk Brothers will be moving to Columbia, Tenn., where he will take over the duties of guiding a new congregation, though the popular minister said the move is a bittersweet one.

Brothers said he will be moving to Graymere Church of Christ, noting the move was unplanned and came about as the result of an unexpected offer.

“We weren’t looking to leave here or anything,” Brothers said. “We were very happy at Central and in McMinnville, but we were contacted by this congregation, and actually initially told them we weren’t interested. But as they continued to talk to us and we looked into it, we finally decided it was one place we ought to talk to.”

Brothers said one of the deciding factors was the location and its proximity to his and wife Cindy’s family.

“It is basically in the middle of all of our family,” he said. “We will actually be closer to everybody we’re related to, I mean literally, three or four cousins deep. My wife’s parents live close to there and her sister lives in Columbia.”

Another reason for the move is the fact Brothers plans to continue his education.

“I’m continuing to try to go to school,” he said. “I’d like to train preachers someday, and as I do that, it’s in a location on I-65 where it makes the universities I’m looking at for doctoral work more readily accessible. I have a lot of things I do with Freed Hardeman University over in west Tennessee, and it cuts that trip in half.

“So when I began to look at all those factors, we felt like, well, there’s probably not another situation quite like this,” Brothers said. “We feel like that there’s a lot of good that can be done there, and so one of the things I told them at church is I’m not running from something, I’m running to something.”

Still, Brothers said the move will be a hard one to make due to all the friends his family has made here.

“McMinnville’s been good to us,” he said. “Central could not have been more wonderful to us. It’s been pretty emotional this last month, just saying good-bye. Especially last Sunday the 28th, which was our last Sunday. They’ve just bent over backwards to be kind to us. The elders couldn’t have been more gracious in helping us in the process. We’ll always love here.”