After a decade of working at Hillcrest Church of Christ, senior minister Terry Brown plans to close the preaching chapter of his life.

Brown plans to retire from the church on Ambler to the west of campus by the end of next summer, and the church already is working to fill his position.

“I’ve been preaching since I was 26 years old. My wife and I have eight grandkids and are ready to enter a new phase of our lives,” Brown said. “We want to have more freedom in this final phase.”

Brown has worked at several churches for the past 40 years and came to work at Hillcrest a little more than 10 years ago. He worked in a dual role during the first two and a half years – as the educational minister and involvement minister.

“Being in the pew with everyone made me analyze how I might preach the same sermon,” Brown said. “Not preaching during that time gave me an opportunity to improve and listen instead of being the one doing all the talking.”

When Brown moved to Abilene in 2001, he also began teaching in the College of Biblical Studies and has taught every semester since.

Brown said he would like to continue teaching his freshman-level “The Life and Teachings of Jesus” class in the fall. Though he usually teaches “Acts through Revelation” in the spring semester, he wants to keep that time open to visit his daughter in New Zealand.

“I’d like to teach in the fall because I really enjoy it,” Brown said. “It’s nice to maintain contact with the 18-year-olds and get to have at least one class with every new crop that comes in.”

Brown said he has loved preaching and teaching. Besides the occasional ups and downs over the past 40 years, he wouldn’t go back and change a thing.

“When I was a student at ACU, I had Tony Ash for some of my Bible classes,” Brown said. “He also preached at Minter Lane Church of Christ, and as a student, I thought that would be ideal to preach and teach Bible.”

Brown has had the opportunity to do both in multiple places, including Lubbock, New Zealand and Abilene.

Kay Hayes, Hillcrest receptionist, said Brown related well to people and was easygoing. She said she especially likes that he teaches class at ACU because students will come in and visit.

“He’s a jolly happy person,” Hayes said. “We are going to miss him.”