Named in memory of a 19th-century Baltimore financier, the ornate church is noted for its exquisite stained glass windows by artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, soaring vaulted ceiling, and the people associated with its history.

[2] Called "one of the most significant buildings in this city, a treasure of art and architecture" by Baltimore Magazine, the church underwent a $1.8 million restoration between 2001 and 2003.

[6][7] George Brown was described by a Baltimore historian as a successful businessman and civic leader who "regarded religion as preeminent above all other things and loved his church with all the ardor of his noble nature".

His theology was broad and deep ... he reached people in countless ways and exerted everywhere a remarkable personal magnetism ... [having] an unusually brilliant intellect and stirring oratorical powers that commanded admiration".

[6] Further significant development occurred in 1931 under T. Guthrie Speers, with the addition of the current chancel designed by notable architect Ralph Adams Cram and the installation of the present 4-manual pipe organ by Ernest M.

Middaugh was a regular panelist for ten years on the weekly television program To Promote Goodwill, an interfaith discussion of social and religious issues produced by WBAL-TV and broadcast worldwide on the Voice of America.

Along with William Sloan Coffin and dozens of other clergymen and civil rights activists, Middaugh was arrested in a clash with police at Baltimore's Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in July 1963 over efforts to desegregate the popular attraction.

In the early 1970s, the church began a tutoring program for neighborhood children and a "Meals on Wheels" service under then-ministers Iain Wilson, pastor, and Clinton C. Glenn Jr., assistant minister.

The full list of senior ministers from 1870 to present is: The current pastor of Brown Memorial Park Avenue Church since 2004 is Andrew Connors.

[21] A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University and a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in 2001.

Other previous organists include the cvirtuoso Virgil Fox, who gained considerable fame as a concert performer and recording artist while at Brown Memorial early in his career, from 1936 to 1946.

Along with regular worship services on Sundays and holy days, Brown Memorial Park Avenue Church puts on concerts, lectures, and study forums.

[28] With the church's motto of "Alive in the City and the World," members are active in numerous ministries, including BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development), and many other local, national and international programs.

For more than 50 years, the church has supported the Brown Memorial Tutoring Program in partnership with local public elementary schools to provide one-to-one instruction for more than 75 children weekly.

[28][29] The church also has a longstanding outreach program with the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where Brown Memorial youth and adults conduct summer learning camps for Lakota children.