Elijah M. Brown is an American scholar, minister, human rights activist, and executive officer. He is the current General Secretary of the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...

(BWA), assuming office on January 1, 2018.

Early life and education

Brown, born in

Texas, United States Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

with a double major in religion and history. He later completed his Ph.D. in divinity with a focus on World Christianity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in Scotland.

Ministry and career

Brown began his involvement with the

in 2005. Before assuming the role of General Secretary, he served the global Baptist family in various capacities, including Regional Secretary for North America and General Secretary for the North American Baptist Fellowship. Brown specializes in human rights and religious liberty. He previously served as Executive Vice President of 21Wilberforce and as an associate professor of religion at

East Texas Baptist University East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. History ETBU is located on the site of the former Van Zandt Farm at the highes ...

. He was the keynote speaker at

Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a Private university, private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Noah T. Byers and John David Robnett founded Howard Payne College in 18 ...

’s 16th annual Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics in January 2024 and commencement speaker at Union University in December 2023.

Accolades

In 2007, Brown was named one of 35 global emerging leaders by the

and in 2019, Brown was presented with the Campbellsville University Leadership Award by

Campbellsville University Campbellsville University (CU) is a private Christian university in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It was founded as Russell Creek Academy and enrolls more than 12,000 students. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. In ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Elijah M. Living people Baptist ministers from the United States Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people)