The Southern Seminary community is mourning the loss of professor Gregory B. Brewton, who died early Monday morning after a sudden medical crisis.
Brewton had served as the Carolyn King Ragan Professor of Church Music and Worship since 2002 and was head of the Department of Biblical Worship. He taught students at Boyce College and Southern Seminary for almost twenty years. He was 65.
Southern Seminary president Albert Mohler said that Brewton was “one of the most faithful, kind, committed, and gifted teachers of his generation and he shaped hundreds of worship leaders and musicians in the service of the church.”
Mohler also reflected on Brewton’s arrival at Southern Seminary.
“We were looking for a gifted musician and worship leader who shared our theological convictions and would add strength to our church worship program. We found all that and more in Greg Brewton. He was always ready to help and to lead. He was loved far beyond Southern Seminary through his leadership of Doxology.”
Doxology is a vocal ensemble that often sings in chapel services and campus events, and is known through choral tours and recordings of beloved Christian hymns.
“Greg Brewton will be greatly missed,” Mohler said. “We are heartbroken by our loss, but for Greg, who dearly loved Christ his Savior, death is all gain. We love the entire Brewton family, and grieve with them. Our love and prayers are with Holly, his dear wife, and with Justin and Allison and their families. To know Greg was to love him. His legacy at Southern Seminary is secure.”
Brewton labored faithfully in music ministry for more than 40 years, having served local churches in Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky. He is survived by his wife, Holly, and two grown children, Allison and Justin, along with one grandchild. Brewton was an active member of Ninth and O Baptist Church and authored A Guide to Worship Ministry (Wipf and Stock, 2018).
SBTS Provost Matthew Hall said the joy Brewton exhibited in his teaching and the love he possessed for students rang clear within the Southern Seminary community.
“Few professors have demonstrated greater dedication to their students than Greg Brewton,” Hall said. “He held his students to the highest of standards, expecting the very best of them. But those standards were undergirded by the irrepressible joy he took in teaching and the consistent love and care he showed for the lives of students and alumni. His ministry among us was one of God’s kindest blessings.”
Paul Akin, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Ministry, said Brewton will be sorely missed by colleagues, students, and alumni alike.
“For nearly 20 years, Greg Brewton was an anchor for the training of music and worship students at Boyce College and Southern Seminary,” Akin said. “As the department chair, he was a cherished colleague and a committed professor. We are all going to miss him and his joyful presence in our midst.”