Ron Brooks (“Rev. Ron” as he is known around the Temple) grew up in southern Missouri as the son of a school teacher and a United Methodist pastor. Initially following his mother’s career path, Ron graduated from Central Missouri State University (CMSU) with a degree in Secondary Education and the hope of addressing the issues of life in urban America through teaching in the inner city. His call to the ministry was stronger however, and led him to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a United Methodist minister! Although the call to become a minister changed his career path, his desire for urban involvement remained. During his first year in seminary at St. Paul’s School of Theology, Ron worked for the Columbus Park Presbyterian Mission in downtown Kansas City. It was here that he was first exposed to urban life in Kansas City. While there he worked with the nearby federal housing project, Guinotte Manor, and served the homeless. Ron later received his Doctorate of Religion in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles, California and is a Board Certified Chaplain of the American Association of Professional Chaplains. He is a retired Chaplain of the United States Navy, having spent all his time in the Pacific Fleet. Throughout the years, although his call to the ministry redirected his efforts into other forms and other places, he finally arrived home again in downtown Kansas City with his appointment to Grand Avenue Temple in 2004. Downtown is like home for Ron and his wife Jan, both of whom until just recently lived and worked downtown, walking to most places they’d go. Their downtown neighborhood was reminiscent of Ron’s first appointment at a small town church in rural Missouri. He lived two blocks from the Post Office and it took two hours to walk there because of all the conversations which occurred along the way. Grand Avenue’s congregation is at home on the streets of downtown Kansas City, so as Rev. Ron says: ”I do a lot of curbside counseling.”