C.W. Post Catholic Chaplain Celebrates 25 Years as a Priest
Father Ted Brown calls a quarter century of ministry “a wonderful life”

To see the comfortable way that Father Ted Brown interacts with students at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, one would think that he never had a single doubt about his path in life. But as the longtime Catholic chaplain of the Brookville, New York campus prepares to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination on September 23, 2006 he admits to taking a somewhat circuitous route to the priesthood and campus ministry.

Educated in public schools, Father Ted grew up in a family that was “not overly religious” but still firmly rooted in the Catholic Church. “We lived very deeply that God loved us,” he said. “It was the air that we breathed growing up.”

With this foundation he considered the priesthood in high school. But he would make three attempts before finally settling on his life’s work.

His first attempt came soon after high school, when the Boylston, MA native joined the Salesians. He lasted one day with the religious community. “It was hair-cutting day,” he recalls. ‘I had hair to my shoulders and I said, ‘This isn’t for me.’”

He spent the next four years at Worcester State College earning a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education. It was there that he encountered the La Salette Fathers and Brothers  and their “drop-in seminary.” This innovative program allowed men considering the priesthood to spend time—with no strings attached—with the religious community. He entered the seminary after graduation, but lasted just nine months. “I didn’t feel it was right,” he recalls today.

From 1974 to 1976, Father Ted worked as a special education teacher in the Worcester Public Schools and earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology-counseling from Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA. Again, he felt a calling to the priesthood while on retreat. “I prayed a prayer that went something like this,” recalls Father Ted. “ ‘God, we have a game down here called baseball. It’s three strikes and you’re out. Either I make it this time or I’m out.’”

“This time,” he completed the one-year novitiate and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA before being ordained on October 17, 1981. His path was finally clear.

During the next eight years he would serve as retreat director, director of theology students and associate pastor. He founded a “Clown Ministry Team” to bring the joy of clowns to children’s hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities. “The clown is a perfect Christian image,” he says. “St. Paul calls us to be fools for Christ. A clown is someone we all connect with.”

These days, he connects students with their faith and the world beyond the C.W. Post Campus, where he has served as Catholic chaplain since 1989. For 10 years, from 1990 to 2000, he brought students to San Diego County, CA to teach Bible school to Kumaayay Native American children. Since 2001, he has been bringing them to Tijuana, Mexico to build houses for the poor. He launched “Into the Streets,” a program which brings food and clothing to the homeless living on the streets of New York City. He also introduced C.W. Post students to the “Welcome Table” soup kitchen at St. Francis Xavier Parish in New York City, and worked with students and professionals to form the Newman Singers to lead music at the weekly Sunday Mass that takes place on campus every Sunday night. He conducts baptisms, confirmations, Bible studies, retreats, and a Catholic Update series that addresses current issues in faith and morality.

Central to his campus ministry has been the Newman Club, the Catholic student organization Father Ted established on campus in 1989. For many students, involvement in the chapter of this national organization, fired up by Fr. Ted’s leadership, has been a life-changing experience.

“When I came into the school I wasn’t Catholic,” says Sunil Persaud, a 25-year-old C.W. Post alumnus and former Newman Club president. “I decided to convert to Catholicism. Through Father Ted and the Newman Club, I figured that becoming Catholic was going to be something positive in my life.” He recalls how Father Ted answered his questions about Catholicism honestly. “He didn’t try to sugarcoat anything.”

Some students, lifelong Catholics, have looked to Father Ted for spiritual guidance and help in deepening their faith. “He’s there spiritually, if you need somebody to talk to,” says Naya Valentin, a 22-year-old senior and a past president of the Newman Club. “When I was struggling through school I would go to the chapel and talk to him and he would make things so much better.”

For Father Ted, campus ministry has been immensely rewarding. Most satisfying is “being able to watch students follow their calling and watch them grow into very responsible, productive human beings and maybe believing that they really have gifts to offer the world,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful life. It’s been challenging at times, but it’s been absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it. My life is so full now, all by the grace of God.”