From Memphis to Maryville: Getting to know Rev. Paul Earheart-Brown

By Lily Shelton \ Sept. 29, 2026

The Center for Campus Ministry is one of the most central parts of Maryville College’s small campus, a welcoming space for anyone to study, relax and reflect on life. It’s hard to enter the CCM without running into Associate Chaplain Paul Earheart-Brown.

Reverend Paul Earheart-Brown (’15) is a Maryville College Alumnus, graduating in 2015 with a major in philosophy and a minor in religion. Originally from Memphis, Earheart-Brown returned to his home city after graduating to attend seminary and, there, he pastored a church in Olive Branch, Mississippi. He worked as a youth pastor for five years, where he realized how rewarding working with young people can be. He went on to serve as the head pastor of the church for four years.

“What I loved about the church was just getting to work specifically with young people,” Earheart-Brown said. “They’re wrestling with questions as they’re trying to figure out who they are and what their faith is and what the Bible means.”

However, his passion for working with youth is not what brought him back to MC; it was the promise of a new beginning.

“I got really burnt out on the congregational life and church work and the politics of the parish, so I actually quit that job before I took this job,” said Earheart-Brown.

Outside of work, Paul Earheart-Brown is a husband and father; when he first switched jobs, his newfound freedom was important to him. It gave him more time to be with his family, which is one of his greatest joys. 

Luckily, returning to Maryville brought joy back to his work and to how he helps spread goodness and faith.

“This was the perfect opportunity where I could do the work that I wanted to do, do the research that I wanted to do, teach, and [lead] Bible study in a different context,” said Earheart-Brown. “It is so much fun to come to work every day.”

Earheart-Brown doesn’t take all the credit for the CCM’s work, though; he and Chaplain Jessica Lewis (‘07) work together in many of the CCM’s activities.

“Jessica and I are invested in helping people figure out who they are and what they believe, and how they feel called to orient themselves in the world,” Earheart-Brown said. “Our job is to make them feel safe. This is a place where they can explore those things safely with people who can help them and guide them respectfully.”

Together, Earheart-Brown and Lewis work to create a respectful, faith-based, welcoming environment for people from all different backgrounds and cultures. One way of fostering this environment is by encouraging post-denominational faith, as Earheart-Brown puts it.

“The word I keep using is post-denominational, where our denominational histories and heritages and ties that make us who we are are still very important, but we’re able to see the value in other traditions and work across those kinds of differences, and not be quite so hunkered down in our own identities and be able to work together and see the value in combining our efforts to try and bring goodness to the world,” said Earheart-Brown.

Students across campus feel this goodness. Many students view Paul Earheart-Brown as one of the easiest people to talk to, turning to him with a variety of problems and questions.

“Paul is probably one of the staff members I feel most comfortable around on campus,” Cecily Rojas (‘29), an Isaac-Anderson scholar, said. “He helps give me other perspectives and expand what I believed to be true.”

Even outside of the Faith and Learning scholars, students find Earheart-Brown to be one of the first people they turn to.

“He really understands what it’s like to be diversified in learning and knowledge,” said Chris Vazquez (‘27). “I talk to Paul a lot because I feel like he understands a lot about being a student here.”

Although Paul Earheart-Brown graduated over a decade ago, he still finds ways to stay connected with his years as a student Whether it be talking to his longtime school friend and now current Director of Residence Life, Danny Roselli, running into Dr. Andrew Irvine, his old philosophy professor who let Earheart-Brown, as a student, proofread one of his papers, or even just walking the labyrinth behind the House in the Woods, there’s something about Paul Earheart-Brown that wouldn’t be the same without this campus, and, in turn, this campus wouldn’t be the same without him.