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09/12/2024 03:15 PMThe Reverend David Wooster Brown of Ivoryton died on Sept. 1, 2024, in Ivoryton. Born in Waterbury in 1926 to Ruth Johnson Brown and Harold Wooster Brown, he grew up in Naugatuck and spent many glorious summers in Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, and on Lake Quassapaug in Middlebury.
Father Brown attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Class of 1944, received his B.A. from Yale College in 1948, and was a Yale School of Music Special Student from 1948-1951, studying with Paul Hindemith. He was the organist/choirmaster at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Naugatuck, where he met his future wife, Carole Bower. He directed the Naugatuck String Orchestra from 1949-1951 and was an instructor at Pomfret School from 1951-1956. In 1959, Father Brown received his Master of Divinity from Yale-Berkeley Divinity School and was ordained in the Episcopal Church that same year. He served churches in Norwich, before taking the position as Rector at Christ Church, Montpelier, Vermont in 1966. In Vermont, he also taught theology and was a member of the ACU Theological Committee, and he was an Associate of the Order of Holy Cross in West Park, New York.
As Rural Dean in Northeastern, Vermont, and later Canon Missioner for the Diocese (from 1975-1980), he championed the ordination of women, the full empowerment of all the baptized for ministry, and developed the concept of cluster/team ministries — in which small, underfunded churches share resources and clergy. This work included the groundbreaking Border Ministry, involving congregations in the three dioceses of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Quebec.
The Browns relocated to Durham in 1980, and Father Brown served as Senior Priest for the five-point CT Middlesex Area Cluster Ministry for the next nine years. He then retired from full-time pastoral ministry and continued his work with the Roland Allen Forum, the Transfiguration Community, the Leadership Academy for New Directions, and New Directions Northeast. In 1990, the Browns retired to their beloved Meadowlark Cottage in Quonochontaug, Rhode Island. Father Brown went on to shepherd the emerging Greater Hartford Regional Ministry for five years and directed the Regional Ministry Leadership Seminar, which he founded. Throughout his ministry, Father Brown published reviews and editorials for The Living Church and Ministry Renewal Journal, among others, and was a much sought-after consultant in the areas of Total Common Ministry, Regional Ministry, and theological/ecclesial formation.
In 2014, the Browns moved to Ivoryton, into an apartment he called Endless Merriment, at the home of his daughter and son-in-law. He enjoyed looking into the woods surrounding their home — so reminiscent of the woods surrounding the Lake Quassapaug house, where he spent so many memorable summer days. His avocations from childhood include playing chamber music, wilderness, art, and literature. And later, classic tracker organs and the history of the Late Middle Ages. At the time of his death, Father Brown was a member of All Saints, Ivoryton.
He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Carole Bower Brown; their six children: Moira Brown, Lizi Brown (Kristine Grimes), Sarah Douglas (Paul), Faith Kerr (Alan), Judith Stahl (William), and Timothy Brown (Caitlin Palm); and 18 grand- and great-grandchildren.
A memorial liturgy will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Emmanuel Church, Killingworth. Rather than flowers, memorial gifts might be made to the New London Homeless Hospitality Center, P.O. Box 1651, New London, CT 06320.