Gay pastor of Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton seeks to open minds
NEWTON - From his earliest memories, Brandon Thomas Crowley said two things were clear: He wanted to preach the word of God, and he was gay.
At 37, Pastor Crowley leads the historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton. The congregation has grown during his tenure since joining in 2009. The Morehouse College graduate went to Harvard Divinity School before grabbing a doctorate at Boston University. It's a near perfect match of a path to one of his role models, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Crowley has a picture of Dr. King displayed in his office behind his desk.
Crowley grew up in Rome, Georgia and those southern roots have not gone away. Aside from the accent, his values on family, love and relationships have stayed relatively the same. But they are radically different than some of those he grew up with.
"I've always been very enamored by the Black church," Crowley told WBZ-TV. "I was raised in the Black church. The deacons and leaders of my home churches were like superheroes to me and I looked up to them. They were my Michael Jordans."
Crowley looked every bit of a pastor when he sat for his interview with WBZ-TV. The suit was sharp, and the shoes were shiny. It's how he has dressed since grade school. His love for the church was front and center through all of his youth. He started preaching as soon as he could speak but in his own way. Crowley recalled preaching from his grandmother's front porch in her high heels. He meant resistance from those outside the home.
"I remember one time there were kids outside, they were throwing rocks at me and laughing at me because I was on the front porch preaching with a robe on, with my grandmother's high heels and a stiff rag that she used for washing dishes," said Crowley. "And I ran in the house and I was crying with my Bible. And she looked at me and she turned me about face and said, 'You go back out there and you continue preaching.'"
Crowley said in that moment his grandmother affirmed him. Being gay was never an issue in his household. A privilege, Crowley acknowledged, not always granted to children when discovering their sexuality.
Crowley said he never questioned being attracted to men. In fact, early on he felt people's issue with his sexuality lay in their perception that it was a problem. A cultural debate that for decades has met at the intersection of religion and sexuality.
"I have always known that I was queerfully and wonderfully made," said Crowley. "The queering that I do in churches is not bringing churches into the world or bringing the world into churches. It's actually drawing churches closer to the original message of Christ, which is about love and acceptance."
A few years into his time at Myrtle Baptist Church, Crowley was asked to guest speak at another church in Boston. It's where he met Tyrone Sutton, a leading music educator in the area and the current assistant principal at Boston Arts Academy. As fate would have it, years later they would marry.
"I'm proud of the work he's been able to do," said Sutton. "And I encourage him so much because it means so much for musicians like myself."
Sutton grew up in Alabama, an hour from where Crowley grew up in Georgia, and said he knows the struggle of coming up gay in the church.
"We have, many times, had to sit through so often and listen to homophobic sermons, homophobic messages in the church while still sitting there and have to play behind them, contributing to the process," said Sutton. "And when you love doing what you do and you feel like you can't do it unless you hide, that it does something to you over time. It really messes with you over time."
The couple is featured as one of this year's Portraits of Pride. The installation is on display at Boston City Hall for the month of June and highlights people who have made a difference in the LGBTQ community.
Crowley has a message to those who feel doubt in finding themselves. A message his grandmother taught him years ago.
"She would say to me all the time, 'Baby, don't ever allow people to make you think there is something wrong with you. There's something wrong with them.'"