NOEL BROOKS: Bio

THE NOEL BROOKS BIOGRAPHY AND COLLECTION /SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY /
THE REVEREND NOEL BROOKS (1914-2006)

"A Life Shining and Burning"
Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS (2006)

Noel Brooks was born in 1914 in the often harsh coal country of northwestern Yorkshire and Lancashire, England, to Absalom Brooks. Noel’s grandfather, according to writings by Noel, had been an alcoholic until God stepped in to miraculously transform his life and forever changed the destinies of his four sons: Edward, Solomon, Absalom, and Will Brooks. The home of Absalom Brooks was said to have been the epitome of the phrase “Holiness Unto the Lord” (Out of a Horrible Pit, pg. 56). Although Noel worked in the same coal mines his father, uncles, and grandfather had labored in, he was being pulled to study and prepare himself for ministry. At the age of 20 years he entered into the ministry (ibid, cover).

Part of the Noel Brooks Collection is a copy of the book by Noel Brooks, about the reformer and founder of the Elim Movement in England, George Jeffreys, FIGHT FOR THE FAITH AND FREEDOM. Brooks was a member of the Elim movement, the Bible-Pattern Church Alliance before joining the Pentecostal Holiness Church in the mid-1950's. Rev. Brooks was one time campaign manager and the official biographer of Jeffreys. (Synan, V. Old-Time Power. 1998, pg. 248, 251).

Brooks, Noel. Fight for Faith and Freedom, George Jeffreys, Revivalist and Reformer (Pattern Books, England: n.d. (ca. 1940). According to WorldCat/FirstSearch, the following libraries have this book: Fuller Theological Seminary (US) ; Asbury Theological Seminary (US): Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (US) ; University of Oxford (UK) ; University of Leicester (UK) ;

Institutions with no WorldCat record holding the book: Southwestern Christian University (US)

Noel Brooks joined with the English Pentecostal Holiness Church in 1954. He served as pastor of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Bristol, then later served as director of evangelism of the English PHC, and then served as General Superintendent of the British Conference. He served as College President of the Christian View Bible College in Eastern Canada (founded September 7, 1971).

He founded the British Bible College which was located in the city of Bristol. Many noteworthy titled from their library collection now reside in the Noel Brooks Reading Room in the SCU Library.

A graduate of London University with a Bachelor of Divinity, he was later awarded an honorary doctorate from Holmes Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina.

During his long career he taught on the faculty of several institutions around the globe and served as guest speaker and lecturer in countless churches in England, North America, and Africa. In the mid 1970’s he taught Bible and Theology on the campus of Southwestern, then known as Oklahoma City Southwestern College.

He was noted for his “keen analytical insights” over the years and authored several books, some of which are considered to be classic treatments of the subject of holiness. In addition, he authored a long series of lessons for adults published in the Pentecostal Holiness Advocate. Many of his titles are located in the SCU Library’s Pentecostal Research Collection (PRC) or in the Noel Brooks Collection or in the IPHC Archives.

In his family memoir he noted that many books tell the story of the lives of great and influential men and women. His “little book”, as he called it, told the story of ordinary people who “shined and burned” in their efforts for God. He recalled the words of his uncle Edward Brooks: “Do the best you can, be the best you are, Shine like a glow worm if you cannot be a star.” Noel Brooks throughout his long career as a scholar and a devoted man of God has called people to remember the way of the Lord, to strive for holiness, and “to shine and burn” for the cause of Christ.