Nicholas Brie Inducted as New Member
 "We are very pleased to have Nicholas Brie as a new member, " said Club Pres. Bill Muffi. "Nicholas has a lot of prior Kiwanis experience and we look forward to him contributing to our club," Muffi continued. (Pictured right during Nicholas' induction ceremony is (L to R) Nicholas Brie, sponsor Frank Parker, and MD certified candle lighter, Joe Vitanza.)
Nicholas's Bio
Kiwanian, Pastor Nicholas Brie was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1986. He was a ‘second career’ student in ministry, having been in another occupation previous to studying for the ministry.
His last full-time call, from which he retired, was at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Taneytown. He served Trinity from 2002 after having served a Lutheran congregation in Baltimore as an Interim Pastor.
Prior to this he was part of an 3 person Ecumenical Team Ministry in Leisure World, in Silver Spring, Maryland, serving an active congregation of about 700 people, a mixture of over 30 denominations.
He came to Maryland from Wyoming where he was a Chaplain at two state facilities for the elderly: one an assisted living facility, the other, about 60 miles away, a nursing home. He traveled between the two serving as Chaplain, offering pastoral ministry and care, as well as offering various programs. Nicholas took the call to Chaplaincy after having served a congregation in rural Nebraska, ministering in a farming and ranching community.
He was born in New England, but after serving in US Army Intelligence in Germany, he moved to New York City and worked for Pan American Airlines as a VIP representative.
He attended college in Waterloo, Canada; Staten Island, New York (where he received his BA); got his secondary school teaching certificate at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA; attended seminary in Berkeley, California and Chicago, Illinois where he received his Master of Divinity in 1986.
Nicholas has led what he calls “an interesting life” that prepared him for many aspects of ministry. He worked as a short-order cook, waiter and Maitre d’, as an executive secretary, worked in a mortuary, was a high school teacher, had his own lawn care business, owned and ran a book store, and was a single foster parent. .He hitch-hiked back and forth across the United States 12 times between 1962 and 1972 in the heat of summer and in the deep-freeze of winter. He has written a column for local newspapers, written poetry, short-stories, children’s books and plays. For some he has won awards and scholarships and grants, but, in his words, “I’ve never published anything on a national level.”
He has given many talks to a variety of civic, religious and charitable groups on spirituality, humor, and matters of humor and aging.
He first joined Kiwanis in 1986 in Paxton, Nebraska. He helped start a club in Worland, Wyoming and after moving to Maryland in 1993, was part of clubs in Leisure World in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1997 Nicholas was honored with the Kiwanis Hixson Fellowship Award.
He retired from full time ministry on December 31, 2008. For a number of years he has looked after the affairs of a now 97 year old Kiwanian. He has done some pulpit supply, and done some volunteer work through the Social Ministry Committee at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Frederick, but has mostly been busy enjoying visiting family and friends and taking trips. |
