The Rev. Montague J. Brackett, who pastored West Baltimore's Central Baptist Church for nearly 50 years, died from pneumonia Tuesday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
He was 94.
Dr. Brackett was born in Manakan, Va., the son of farmers. When he was in his teens, he moved to Baltimore, and graduated in 1933 from Frederick Douglass High School.
He earned bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in theology from what became Virginia Seminary and College in Lynchburg, and is now Virginia University of Lynchburg.
After being ordained a Baptist minister in 1948, he served as assistant pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Baltimore, until being named the seventh pastor of Central Baptist Church, which was founded in the city in 1921.
When Dr. Brackett took over the church, it was located near Mount Royal Station, where Sutton Place Apartments were later built.
He later led the campaign to move the church to its present home in the 2000 block of W. Baltimore St.
"He was a charming and very cordial, happy, type of individual. He loved people and they loved him," said the Rev. Lorenzo Long, who succeeded Dr. Brackett at his retirement in 2003.
"Even though he had retired, he still came to services and I'd often give him the opportunity to preach the message and he was always well-received," Mr. Lorenzo said.
"His preaching style was such that he'd start out easy and then escalate. At the end of the service, it wasn't uncommon to hear people say, 'Pastor, you were talking to me today,' " Mr. Lorenzo said.
"He was firey and he'd rock that pulpit. He could do it all," said Eva L. Wright, a member of Central Baptist for more than 40 years. "He was a great man and the church was so crowded, that we always had to set up extra chairs."
Mr. Lorenzo praised Dr. Brackett's personal modesty.
"Much of the work he did was untold. You'd never hear it from him," Mr. Lorenzo said.
Dr. Brackett established the church's Gift of Love Center that provides food and clothing to the neighborhood's needy.
Under his leadership, he made sure Central Baptist Church played a role in the Boyd-Booth and Fayette Street neighborhood associations.
"He also made sure there was outreach to Bon Secours Hospital," Mr. Lorenzo said.
Dr. Brackett also visited inmates at the Baltimore City Jail and the Maryland State Penitentiary.
