How Grace Theological Seminary Prepared Corey Brooks for a Life of Urban Ministry

Pastor Corey Brooks has never been content to do urban ministry from the sidelines. 

Brooks, his wife, Delilah, and their four kids live on the South Side of Chicago, where Brooks has spent nearly three decades pastoring, mentoring, and rebuilding a community marked by poverty and violence. A senior pastor and the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. Chicago (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), Brooks operates by the conviction that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Originally from Muncie, Indiana, Brooks first sensed a call to ministry at the age of 14. During his freshman year studying political science at Ball State University, he began serving in youth ministry and eventually became a youth pastor at Union Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana.

Recognizing his need for theological training, he enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary. However, after being called to pastor a church in Richmond, Indiana, he began searching for a seminary in the state. His professors at Dallas put him in touch with Dr. David Plaster at Grace Theological Seminary, who left a lasting impact on Brooks by arranging campus housing for him as he juggled ministry commitments, coursework, and a three-and-a-half-hour commute between the two.

After graduating from Grace Theological Seminary in 1996, Brooks moved to Chicago to pastor West Point Baptist Church, where he served for four years before founding New Beginnings Church of Chicago in 2000. The church, where he still serves in urban ministry today, has grown into a 1,500-member congregation that serves as a hub for spiritual formation and community renewal.

In 2011, Brooks became widely known as the “Rooftop Pastor” after spending 94 winter days living on the roof of an abandoned hotel to draw national attention to the epidemic of gun violence. While such a stunt would be the exclamation mark on many a ministry, Brooks was just getting started. In 2021, he returned to a rooftop for an unprecedented 343-day vigil, raising more than $20 million and rallying 20,000 new partners to Project H.O.O.D.’s mission. Under his leadership, the organization is now constructing a $47 million Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center — the first major new building in his neighborhood since the 1960s.

This fall, Brooks began another bold journey to benefit urban ministry: a cross-country walk from New York to California. Over the next year, he plans to raise $25 million to complete the center, launch a classical Christian school for boys, seed an endowment for long-term sustainability, and expand Project H.O.O.D. into urban and rural communities nationwide.

Corey Brooks’ story is a testament to what God can do through leaders who are grounded in Scripture and equipped for service. At Grace Theological Seminary, students receive theological training that prepares them to serve faithfully wherever God calls them, from urban ministry to rural local churches.

Explore Grace Theological Seminary and see how God may be calling you to impact your community through ministry.