As students pass in front of the Memorial Student Center, a man in a white button-down shirt, red tie, suspenders and hat stands on a bench, fervently sharing a message of Christianity. Most students try to show no interest. Others stop and stare, making snide remarks. Occasionally, a passerby prays over him.

The man is 70-year-old John Ellison of College Station. He calls himself “Brother John.”

He started preaching in 2009 after writing a letter to Texas A&M’s then-president R. Bowen Loftin about how the university’s All Faiths Chapel was being neglected. The chapel later underwent two renovations. 

Ellison doesn’t take credit for the renovation or much else he does. 

“You have to give the Lord the credit,” Ellison said. “I couldn’t do it otherwise.” 

Whether a student is religious or not, Ellison’s perseveres. He estimates he’s preached 20,000 to 25,000 times in the last 15 years. 

“I get up at 4:15 and am here by 5 for the sake of the Corps of Cadets on their way to physical training — for their benefit,” Ellison said. “Then I drive a school bus. Then go home and eat breakfast, take a nap, get up again and plan to be up here again at noon Monday through Friday.” 

Ellison is not only part of the on-campus culture at A&M — he’s present off campus as well. 

On weekends, he can be found in Northgate. His “Northgate Community Church” sign often hangs outside popular bar and restaurant Dixie Chicken.

Sometimes he preaches. Other times, he weaves in and out of the bars or simply makes himself available as a friendly ear. 

After completing his preaching, he heads to pizza restaurant Dollar Slice Club and begins bussing tables at 1:30 a.m.

For Ellison, his on-campus preaching isn’t about attracting huge numbers of students.

“To this day, I have not drawn a crowd,” Ellison said. “The most people that have ever stopped to listen at the same time are about four or five.” 

Yet he continues to show up each day —  “all in the anticipation of revival,” he said.

“In my opinion, we’ve turned our back on God, and that is the ultimate sin as a nation,” Ellison said. “The only thing that can turn that around is a great awakening. So I must preach at every opportunity.”

He said the persona he’s created on campus — the chaplain of Aggieland — gives him a purpose, Ellison said. 

“I get a lot of exposure, needless to say, but I talk to very few people,” he said. “People might stop me and say, ‘Aren’t you the guy that preaches?’ This gives me the opportunity to share Christ with the most people.” 

Ellison wasn’t always so devout. If you look closely, you might notice his Aggie Ring has a Class of 1979 insignia. He didn’t graduate until 1981.

“Back in my college days, I wasn’t living my life for Christ,” Ellison said. “One night, a month before graduation, I started having a lot of inner turmoil which I realized later was the Holy Spirit. That same night I packed a bag and left town. I wrote a letter to my roomate at the time, saying he could have anything I left, and to give the rest to Goodwill.” 

Ellison said he lived with his mom and sister for the next several years. 

“That’s when I really cried out to Jesus in desperation,” Ellison said.

In 1981, he returned to A&M to finish his degree in horticulture before getting a job in the university’s grounds maintenance department. Since then, Ellison has been married and divorced. He and his ex-wife had a daughter with whom Ellison said he hasn’t spoken in years. 

“Christ’s relationship with us is very parental,” Ellison said. “I pray and say Lord, please, I want to see her so badly. I want to talk with her so badly. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Now you know how I feel when my children turn their back on me.’ Christ really just wants a relationship with us.”