New First United Methodist Church of Andalusia Pastor Brennan Peacock hopes to get involved in the community.

Born and reared in Pensacola, Peacock went to college with the thought of ministry in the back of his mind.

“I graduated from Washington High School in Pensacola,” Peacock said. “I started college, but when I started working in hotel management, I decided to take a break. I did hotel management for eight years.”

After those eight years, Peacock said he responded to the call of ministry. He said he knew that he was called in high school, but postponed the calling.

“I decided to go back and finish my degree,” Peacock said. “So, I went to the University of West Florida and then got my seminary degree from Duke University. I was always very active in my youth group growing up, but there was a specific moment that I always remember that I knew was the calling to ministry. We were at a youth group retreat in North Carolina, and I was sitting with a bunch of friends when the youth director challenged us to be quiet for 30 minutes. He wanted us to sit there in silence and observe the creation around us. It was in the stillness that I realized the decision was already made. So, I promptly put it on hold.”

Peacock said he waited to pursue the ministry because wanted to get some experience in the world.

“I wanted to have an understanding of where my people were coming from,” Peacock said. “I don’t want to go from shelter to shelter to shelter and then find myself in a situation where my people aren’t under shelter. If I’m running a church and I’m challenged with writing a sermon, organizing a Bible study or just sitting with somebody talking in my office and just tell them what they need to do without knowing where they are coming from.”

Fourteen years ago, his first appointment in the church was in Mobile for seven years, and then he did a series of two-year stints before being placed in Andalusia on July 1.

“They were wonderful places, but the challenge for me was that I never got to dive in too deeply where I was placed,” Peacock said. “I never know what the bishop is thinking, but I feel like he won’t change anything any time soon. So, at this point, I am really looking forward to diving into the community.”

So far, Peacock said everything in Andalusia has been great.

“It has been a great entry into the church,” Peacock said. “Me and my family have felt very warmly embraced in every avenue and context. I really couldn’t imagine a better introduction to a community.”

Peacock said the church has had some fantastic leadership over the past years and he is ready to capitalize on that.

“Tim Trent was here for 11 years and Jason [Thrower] was here for four years,” Peacock said. “So, I know them both and I know the quality of leadership that the church has thrived under. A lot of what I hope to do is to provide that quality of leadership that the members are accustomed to. There are a few tangible things that we want to work on immediately, one being the new children’s building that is coming within the next few weeks. I don’t see this as the completion of a building, but the beginning of a new ministry. We are getting ready to start something not finishing something. A significant portion has been funded already. So, the challenge is going to be there for the congregation to get to the finish line on that, but they have risen to every challenge and I know that they will rise to this one. We are going to continue to provide the wonderful ministries that we have, but we are also looking at expanding and reorienting some of those ministries to provide even deeper opportunities to make relationships.”

When it comes to being involved in the community, Peacock is ready to dive in.

“I’ve been to a couple of meetings already with the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs,” Peacock said. “We went to July Jamz and the World Championship Domino Tournament. Honestly, it’s just being where the community is doing their together time and learning those relationships. Every small town has some things in common, but they are all very unique, as well. I want to embrace the things that are uniquely Andalusia and discover what those are.”

Peacock has been married to his wife, Patti, for 20 years and they have two boys, Eli, 16, and Adam, 13.