Brooks, Robert J.

• The Rev. Canon Robert J. Brooks

Robert Brooks was born on March 25, 1947, in Austin, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Edward's University, Austin, in 1970 and a Master of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, in 1973. On June 22, 1974, he was ordained into the priesthood.

Brooks began his career as a parish priest at All Saints’ Church in Baytown, Texas, serving from 1973 to 1983, during which time he also earned a Master of Arts from the University of Notre Dame (1980). In the following decades, he championed the church’s sacramental rights and texts, participated in multiple liturgical organizations; advocated for human rights in South America and Africa; and represented The Episcopal Church as Director of Government Relations during the tenure of Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. He became the rector of St. Paul’s Church in Willimantic, Connecticut in 2001. Even after his retirement in 2004, he continued to advocate for issues of social justice, serving as president of the Episcopal Urban Caucus until just prior to his death.

Canon Brooks died on February 29, 2020.