My name is Jarvis Jay Brown. Friends call me J.J. Brown. I am the Pastor of the Bethsemane Seventh Day Adventist Church in the city of Brockton, in the state of Massachusetts. It's a small congregation located on Nellson Road in the South Side of Brockton. We're a very small church, with only about two hundred members, most of whom are either African-American or Haitian. I'm a hard-working man of faith who preaches the Good Word and tries to give hope to the true believers and the sinners among the men and women of this world. One does what one can, you know how it is. Sometimes, the flesh is weak. Very weak. How else would you explain what happened between me and two of the sistahs of the choir last weekend?
On Friday nights, we hold the Friday Night Vespers together. Basically, the choir comes in and rehearses their songs for Saturday morning's service. I also take advantage of the time to prepare Saturday's sermon. Hey, it's not easy to deliver flawless sermons, you know? A brother has to practice and keep busy. That's exactly what I am doing right now. Keeping busy, that is. It's hard for a thirty-something single black male to run a big church by himself. I'm under a lot of scrutiny. The Elders of the Church aren't exactly fond of me. The women of the church are known to be gossiping and fast, if you know what I mean. The men, well, they're doing their thing. Yeah, I felt alone. Which explains why I succumbed to temptations of the flesh and fell into sin.
I was rehearsing for my sermon when these two women walked by and saluted me. I knew them, of course. In the black church, we all call each other brotha or sistah. That doesn't mean we're related or anything like that. The sistahs in question were Joanna Sanders and Simone Gladstone. Two plump, dark-skinned females with big butts. They were both well-known for being rather fast. Both of them had flirted with me endlessly ever since I became the Pastor of the Church. That time, I found myself tempted. I haven't felt that tempted since I was a freshman at ATL Union University, the prominent Seventh Day Adventist school located in Boston, Massachusetts.
ATL Union University was founded in 1945 by a philanthropic organization representing the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It started out as a small campus, with only about five thousand students. Since then, it has grown into one of the leading private schools in America. ATL Union University currently has nineteen thousand six hundred and seventeen undergraduate students and seventeen hundred and sixty nine graduate students. It offers associates, bachelors and masters degrees in more than sixty fields. It's a productive, challenging and deeply Christian academic atmosphere. Although the school is famous for its rigorous academic curriculum, it's also acquired a reputation as an athletic powerhouse.
The ATL Union University Department of Athletics sponsors Men's Intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Water Polo, Rowing, Squash, Gymnastics, Sailing, Cross Country, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Rifle, Wrestling, Soccer, Swimming, Football and Golf along with Women's Intercollegiate Softball, Basketball, Cross Country, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Water Polo, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Sailing, Wrestling, Soccer, Field Hockey, Rowing, Rifle, Squash, Gymnastics, Swimming and Rugby. We compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division One. Yeah, we had grown from a small religious school to a force to be reckoned with.
I joined the ATL Union University Football team as a freshman. I've always been a talented athlete. As a six-foot-four, 230-pound guy, I played various positions in high school. From cornerback to running back and defensive lineman. I was put in the position of blocker on the collegiate football team. Not my favorite position, but whatever. We had a lousy season that first year. Boston College totally kicked our butts, as did Georgia Tech and Ohio State University. One time, we lost by a single point to Alabama State University. And it was my fault. I blamed myself for it. If I had been stronger and faster, my team might have won. The temptation to take steroids became overwhelming. In the end, I didn't take them but damn it, I was tempted. But I couldn't risk getting caught. It would disgrace my team. It would disgrace my coach. And it would be the end of me. That so didn't make me feel better. We had a lousy season by the way.