Stafford Brooks

Stafford E. Brooks was born on July 28, 1912. From a small boy, he felt the call of God on his life. Stafford had a younger sister who fell out of a tree, and he felt the Lord tell him if he prayed for her, the Lord would heal her. He did not pray for her, and she died. Shortly after that, his Mom became sick. He was getting ready to go to town, and his Mom said to him. "Am I going to die before I ever hear my son pray?” Stafford said, "No," and kneeled beside her bed and prayed for her healing. When he returned from town, his Mom was up sweeping the floor and completely healed. After this happened, Stafford started going to the Assembly of God Church in Andalusia, Alabama. He prayed through to the Holy Ghost and became a young minister in the church.

When he was 19 years old, Brother D.L. Welch came to Andalusia with a Tent Revival. The Assembly of God church pastor told everyone to stay away from the Tent Revival as they preached false doctrine. Brother Brooks disobeyed and went to the revival to find out what the false doctrine was. The Lord got a hold of his heart, and he knew it was not a false doctrine. That night, when he went home, he was pondering what to do and had a dream that he saw the Lord. The Lord showed him his friends and said to him, "Who do you love—Me or your friends? When he awakened, he knew he had to follow the Lord and was baptized in Jesus Name! The day he was baptized in Jesus Name, the Holy Ghost came down in such a powerful way that when he finally opened his eyes, he saw others from the Assembly of God Church getting baptized in Jesus Name. From then on, he traveled with Brother D.L. Welch and joined the oneness organization PAJC. Brother Welch would send Brother Brooks places to preach.

In 1938, Brother Brooks became pastor of the church in Collinsville, Oklahoma. He had a new bride, and then on November 20, 1939, his wife died after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl. He was good
friends with Brother and Sister Williams, who were over Tulsa Bible College. Sister Williams chose
Lorena Christenberry to care for the newborn baby.

Brother Brooks resigned from the church when spring came, and his sister came to help him with the baby. He then returned to his folks in Andalusia. Brother Brooks left the baby with his sister and went to Pensacola to talk to Brother Welch. Brother Welch asked him if he had met a woman that he would be interested in marrying to be a mother to his child. Brother Brooks told him yes, the woman that had been taking care of her since her birth. Brother Welch said, “you send her the money to come to Pensacola, Florida, and I will do the ceremony." They were married on September 5, 1940.

Shortly after they were married, they went to Mt. Pisgah for a revival, and the Lord blessed them, and the church voted them in as pastor. He was there for ten years as pastor, and then he resigned from Mt. Pisgah and was voted in as pastor of Bethel Temple in Brookhaven, Mississippi. The church at Thomaston, Georgia elected him as pastor in 1953. He only stayed for one year when the church in Milton, Florida, voted him to be their pastor. He remained at the church in Milton until the church in Homestead, Florida, voted him in as pastor. The Lord blessed, and the minister that started the church, Brother Brown, wanted to take the church back. The church in Kosciusko, Mississippi, elected Brother Brooks as their pastor. After one year, Brother Brown asked Brother Brooks to return to Homestead.

The church was doing well in Homestead when Mt Pisgah became open. He wanted to return to Mt. Pisgah, but the church voted someone else in as pastor. Brother D.L. Welch told Brother Brooks that he should go to Daytona Beach, Florida, to start a new work. He was there for several years, and Brother Brooks desired to go back to Mississippi. In 1965, Brother Brooks pastored Oak Hill Pentecostal Church near Poplarville, and this was his last church to pastor. He moved to Pensacola, bought a small retirement home, preached out on weekends, and assisted other pastors in the area. He passed away in 1987.