Brown plans to release two additional albums in the next two years to make the project a trilogy.

Musician finds harmony between life as pastor and recording artist

“The hardest thing about this is time. There are just not enough hours.”

By Lewis Green and ChristianWeek | January 26, 2015

MILTON, ON—Managing the unending schedule of a full-time pastor with the unrelenting desire to be a recording artist and remaining wholly present for his wife and two children, Drew Brown is attempting to do—and so far succeeding at—the impossible.

Brown’s music career began in his teens and he says time management has always been a challenge. In Grade 9 he was asked to play drums with a group of friends that were in Grade 13. “I would play shows many nights of the week and come home at about 1 a.m. Only to get up early and get back to school the next day,” recalls Brown.

For the past decade Brown has served in a pastoral capacity and for the last four years as the full-time creative arts pastor at Trinity Anglican Church in Mississauga, Ontario. “I oversee Sunday morning services and all the creative elements that happen therein: from videos, to sound, to music, and worship,” Brown says, “and as any pastor will tell you a pastor’s job is never done. Full time really means all the time.”

Combining his desire to be a musician and his pastoral responsibilities is a challenge in and of itself but Brown also has the added pressure of being a full-time husband and father of two children. After a full day at the church Brown comes home to spend what he describes as “both quality and quantity time” with his family. At 9:30 p.m., after the kids have gone to bed, Brown leaves home to meet up with his band to write songs and rehearse until 1 a.m. If he plans to record anything for his upcoming album, he will be up the next morning at 5 a.m.

“The hardest thing about this is time. There are just not enough hours,” laments Brown.

The key to managing his time, Brown says, is found in the Bible. “We’re supposed to train up leaders around us. It took a few years but for Sunday mornings, I now have a team of great leaders around me that can handle so much. It helps a lot.” That assistance has allowed Brown to free up enough time to record his first full-length album since 2006.

Analog Love in Digital Times released in December 2014 and is a reflection of Brown’s desire to share a raw and genuine love to a cold and distant culture. “The truth is right now, the love we share is not perfect. We don’t need to pretend it is. I wanted to capture that from a Christian perspective.”

With many more late nights ahead and the support of both his church and family, Brown plans to release two additional albums in the next two years to make the project a trilogy.