Bishop Arthur Brazier
Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, pastor of the Chicago’s Apostolic Church of God, was born in Chicago, Illinois, July 22, 1921. The son of Robert and Geneva Scott Brazier, Brazier grew up on Chicago’s South Side during the Great Depression. Brazier attended Frances E. Willard and Stephen A. Douglas elementary schools; he dropped out of Phillips High School after a year of attendance to begin working. Drafted into a segregated United States Army in 1942, Brazier became a staff sergeant serving in India and Burma; after being discharged in 1945, he met his future wife, was baptized, and joined her church in 1947.
In 1948, Brazier began a twelve year career with the United States Postal Service. During this time, Brazier studied at Moody Bible Institute and became pastor of the Universal Church of Christ in 1952. In 1960, Brazier merged his congregation with the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago’s Woodlawn community. Brazier became the spokesman for the Temporary Woodlawn Organization (TWO), organized by Nicholas Von Hoffman of Sol Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation. Brazier successfully led TWO against the expansion of the University of Chicago in 1963. With Bill Berry of the Chicago Urban League, Brazier also formed the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations which fought segregation in Chicago’s public schools; he resigned in 1965, but was active with Al Raby in Dr. Martin Luther King’s visit to Chicago in 1966.
As pastor of the Apostolic Church of God, Brazier’s congregation grew from 100 members in 1960 to over 18,000. In 1976, Brazier became diocesan bishop of the 6th Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Brazier also founded the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation, and the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization; he officially retired from the pulpit and addressed his congregation for the last time on June 1, 2008. In addition to his church activities, Brazier enjoyed a career as a teacher and lecturer and authored Black Self-Determination, Saved By Grace and Grace Alone, and From Milk to Meat. Brazier and his wife Isabelle raised four children.
Brazier passed away on October 22, 2010 at age 89.
A2005.003
Male
1/7/2005
Brazier
Monroe
Wendell Phillips Academy High School
Frances E. Willard Elementary School
John J. Pershing West Middle School
Arthur
Chicago
BRA05
Summer
Illinois
Paris, France
Praise The Lord.

Illinois
7/22/1921
Chicago
USA
Linguine, Shrimp
10/22/2010
Pastor and bishop Bishop Arthur Brazier (1921 - 2010 ) served as diocesan bishop of the 6th Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, in addition to his work as pastor of the Chicago’s Apostolic Church of God.
Apostolic Church of God
Brown
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289554">Tape: 1 Slating of Bishop Arthur Brazier's interview</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289555">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier lists his favorites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289556">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his mother</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289557">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his father</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289558">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls his childhood church experience</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289559">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his earliest childhood memory</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289560">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his household</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289561">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes the sights, sounds, and smells of his childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289562">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers attending the Chicago World's Fair</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289563">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers his childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289564">Tape: 1 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls his school experience in Chicago, Illinois</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289565">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers his favorite teacher</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289566">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls working after dropping out of Wendell Phillips High School</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289567">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood in the 1930s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289568">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers social movements from his childhood</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289569">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls not attending church and perceptions of blackness overseas</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289570">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers his U.S. Army service during World War II</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289571">Tape: 2 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls the segregation he encountered in the U.S. Army</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289572">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers segregation he encountered in the U.S. Army</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289573">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls jobs he held after his discharge from the U.S. Army</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289574">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls meeting his wife and returning to church</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289575">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes becoming a pastor</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289576">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers his involvement with the Greater Woodlawn Ministers Alliance</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289577">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls learning about community organizing</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289578">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes the Puerto Rican community's involvement in The Woodlawn Organization</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289579">Tape: 3 Bishop Arthur Brazier remembers lessons about power in organizing</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289580">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes the success of The Woodlawn Organization</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289581">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier recalls founding the Coordinating Committee of Community Organizations</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289582">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his hopes for leadership in the African American community</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289583">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes problems in the African American community</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289584">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes the message of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Illinois</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289585">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier reflects upon his ministry</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289586">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes the impact of political organizing on church attendance</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289587">Tape: 4 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289588">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier talks about the importance of voting</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289589">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes programs at Chicago's Apostolic Church of God</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289590">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier reflects upon his life</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289591">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier reflects upon his legacy</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289592">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier describes how he would like to be remembered</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/289593">Tape: 5 Bishop Arthur Brazier talks about his family</a>
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