History
Mission Founding
The Reverend James Alexander Bryan, “Brother Bryan”, was one of the best known and well thought of men to have lived in Birmingham. He was an ordained Minister of the Word and a walking example of the quotation in Acts 10:38 – “He went about doing good.” During his life, he did more for the homeless of Birmingham than anyone before him. It is said that one of Brother Bryan’s most beloved scripture was Matthew 25: 35-40 that has become the focal scripture of our mission statement.
Matthew 25:35-40
35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Before he died, Brother Bryan made a request to a few of his closest friends to establish a place that would take the poor and down-trodden men of Birmingham off the streets and give them food, shelter and care. His request was fulfilled and Birmingham Alabama’s first mission for the homeless was born.
The Brother Bryan Mission was established in 1940 by a few dedicated and prayerful individuals. Its first location was limited to five rooms on the top floor of a building on 20th street. In 1945 the mission made its first move to a larger facility. Now after four moves the mission is located at 1616 Second Avenue North, Birmingham Alabama, 35203.
Brother Bryan
Brother James A. Bryan was not a rich man. He was not a great composer or inventor. He never broke any records. He didn’t even pastor an especially large church. However, in his own right, Brother Bryan is the most successful, famous and well thought of man to ever set foot in the city of Birmingham.
What made this man, out of all the others, so great? Brother Bryan’s light of Christ’s love illuminated countless lives. While he was alive, there was hardly a soul in Birmingham who had not been blessed or helped in some way by the soft-spoken minister. He did not devote his attention to any specific group. In just a few hours, he might go from ministering at a prison cell to a highly exclusive school. During the flu epidemic of 1918, he visited homes of the sick and performed numerous funerals at the risk of his own health. He broadcast six radio addresses weekly to an eager audience during the flu epidemic. The telephone was his assistant, the phone book his rolodex.
He dedicated his life to the poor, downtrodden and unsaved in Birmingham. He was a man who had a heart for the poor and knew how to help them. He ran two soup kitchens to feed and clothe the homeless of Birmingham. The only requirement was that before the hungry man received food he must attend a prayer service. He would often give his shoes and clothing to help the homeless. Mrs. Bryan soon learned she would have to hide money and clothing from her husband in order to feed and clothe her own family.
On Christmas morning before the sun was even up he would be off doing his work. With a bag of stockings over his shoulder and his white beard, it’s no wonder some children called him Santa Claus! He visited homes where he knew that there would be little Christmas cheer. He always liked it when someone gave him a toy so he could give them to poor children. He would always tack a note to a child’s stocking. “God sent you Santa, he sent you Jesus too. Santa wants you to love God and be a good little Christian and give your life to Jesus.”
There is both a statue and a park dedicated to Brother Bryan. The Brother Bryan Park is on the southside of the city and the statue kneels at the corner of 10th Avenue and 20th Street in the Five Points South historic district. The words one heard most often falling from his lips were, “Let us pray.” He was the only man who ever lived in Birmingham who could walk into the roughest and toughest bars, quietly ask for prayer and every mans cap would come off and every head would bow.
On January 28, 1941, Brother Bryan breathed his last. His final request was for a place where the homeless men of Birmingham could go to receive food, shelter and God’s love. The Brother Bryan Mission, founded in 1940, shortly before his death, is an answer to that request. The spirit of Brother Bryan continues on at this mission and through the thousands of people he touched in his life. As one woman so accurately put it, “To remember him is to wonder that so much goodness can take mortal shape.”
Poem
I was taking a stroll on the south side of town,
The sky was chilled and gray,
When I noticed a homeless man nearby,
Huddling in a cold doorway.
There a God fearing pastor passed our way,
With a cheerful spring in his step.
He suddenly stopped and turned to the man,
Without a request for help.
I paused and watched, somewhat amazed,
As the man watched the pastor approach.
For then, with the smile of a spirit filled child,
Brother Bryan removed his coat.
He slowly draped his coat around
The shivering hulk of a man -
Then knelt and raised his face to heaven
As his prayer to His Father began.
I listened intently to hear the words
Of this man with the loving touch,
And heard his voice in the wind as he prayed,
“Oh Father, how could you love us, so much.”
-L. Self