Written by Ben Cox – Well known in the community for its annual Trunk or Treat every fall, Austin Avenue Church of Christ is more than a great stop for the kids to get sweets every October. 
J. Tom Washburn, the senior pastor, has been in ministry for almost 40 years, starting as a youth pastor in Midland and making his way from there through Portales, New Mexico and Enid, Oklahoma before settling in Brownwood in mid-2009.
A storyteller at heart, Washburn draws you in with his warm words, candid demeanor, and a sensitivity towards the needy.
Attending Lubbock Christian College (it was not yet a University) in 1979, Washburn started his ministry at Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock as an intern. He and his wife, Julie, bounced from that church to other churches across the Southwest as a youth minister, a ministry minister, and finally starting as a lead pastor at North Garland Church of Christ in Enid, Oklahoma before coming to Brownwood in 2009.
Washburn went from teaching a class of over 300 at Sunset Church of Christ as an associate minister when an elder in the church suggested that “you should be preaching somewhere.” Washburn says what was supposed to be a complement “sounded like a kick in the pants,” and so he and his wife began the process of finding a church in need of leadership. 
Washburn was preaching the morning after a devastating tornado had struck Enid when he noticed a row of people in the church he had never seen before. As the pastor, he makes it a point to speak to each person before they leave his church, and when the group left after the invitation, he chased them to the parking lot to meet with them. 
As it turned out, his name had been put in for the lead pastor position at Austin Avenue without his knowledge by friends from Brownwood, and this was the search committee. The members of the group had weathered the storm the night before in the hallway of their hotel.
He was asked to visit the church a few weeks later for an interview, but did not worship with the congregation until the first Sunday of July, after he accepted the position.
One of his many God-given gifts is storytelling, and he tells one story in particular of when he found out the true meaning of the word grace.
While serving as a youth minister early on in his career, two best friends from his youth group were involved in an accident that cost one of them his life. The pair were looking at a new shotgun one of the boys, Chris, had received as a present. Joe, Chris’ friend, was picking the gun up from the bed when the sheet caught the trigger discharging both barrels of what they believed to be an unloaded weapon.
The blast killed Chris instantly, and sent Joe into a regressive state of being unable to walk or talk, sucking his thumb in the fetal position. 
Washburn and his wife were taken from the movie theater to the police station to be with Joe’s family. After a few minutes, Chris’ mother walked into the station, and was told by officers she was not allowed to see Joe, to prevent anything from happening. 
After a few minutes, Joe’s mother turned the corner and was face-to-face with Chris’ mom. They looked at each other and then Chris’ mother opened her arms, embracing the mother of her son’s best friend. 
Washburn says he watched the clock, and after 30 minutes of holding each other and sobbing, Chris’ mother said to Joe’s, “My son is dead, let’s do what we can for Joe.”
Washburn said that moment was where he first saw grace in action. 
This story is one of many that allows Washburn to empathize with members of the community on many levels. One way the church reaches out is through their Hope ministry. Pastor Washburn explains the ministry is for those residents of Brownwood “who have never set foot inside of a church building and are afraid to. They don’t think their clothes are good enough. They look at our parking lot and they see nice clean cars and think: I can’t go there.”
The Hope ministry meets on Wednesday nights, and includes a meal and classes to educates those in attendance about the Church of Christ. There is no time frame or requirement for people to transition from Hope Ministry to Sunday morning worship.
Austin Avenue Church of Christ adheres to the heritage of acapella fellowship, meaning there is no organ or praise team on stage playing music for the service. The early parts of the Church of Christ, which formed in 1904, made a decision to restore the practices and principles of the 1st Century church, where music was not part of the worship experience, and so it is not part of the Church of Christ. There are some churches in the denomination which use music, but are vocal only.
Austin Avenue Church of Christ is a mission-based church, and supports missions in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, the Navajo Nation, Houston (which Washburn describes with a smile as “a whole country unto itself”) the Ukraine, the Philippines, Benin (in Africa), and China. They support 50 percent of the funds for each of their missionaries, with the missionaries finding the other 50 percent from other churches.
The church offers a Sunday Morning bible study at 9:30 a.m., with worship following at 10:30 a.m., as well as a Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. The Wednesday night bible study begins at 7 p.m. More information about the church can be found on their website.