Retired Chaplain, Brigadier General Growing Lely Presbyterian

Two years ago when retired chaplain, Brigadier General Ed Brandt, retired from the Army National Guard, he was looking for his next mission. He found it in Lely Presbyterian, the East Naples church that started in 1973. You could call it Brandt’s latest calling. He’s answering the call. He plans to go out strong.

“I could hang it up today and walk away and live a nice, fat, happy life,” Brandt said with a smile while pushing away from his computer Friday morning in his office at the church. "I think what it is, I think it's almost a sin to not use your gifts. To say, 'Okay, I'm 65, I'm done.' I want to be able to finish strong. I find it exciting because the sermons I preach on Sunday they're fresh, they're new. People as they get older, they look at what their life has accomplished. I think they're just end-of-life issues that people face. I mean, I'll be 64 in June, and it's like, ‘Oh, geez, it's what I want to get done here. I'm the kind of guy who likes life. I don't want it to be over. Yeah, I don't want it to be over."

When Brandt arrived at Lely Presbyterian, there were 45 to 50 people in church. 

“Then we got up to 80 to 100,” Brandt said. "Then we added a second service. Now we're having nearly 200 people in church. Wow. On Sundays, I'm like 50 to 60 at 9:00 and about 150 to 180 at the second service.”

Lely Presbyterian was struggling before Brandt arrived.

"The church had been through a carousel of clergy,” he said. "They had a person who came, and he quit after six months for whatever reason. Then they had a series of interims. So from 2017 to 2020, it was like this rotating door. There was no stability and predictability. And so when I came in, you know, my plan is to stay here until no later than age 70. I'll be 70 in six years. My plan is to get it set up, build a congregation, build the staff, get it financially set so that when I retire in six years, I can just hand it off. We want to keep moving forward here.”

Brandt is proud of some of the church’s recent accomplishments.

“We pulled the carpet up,” Brandt said, "put tile down. We replaced the lights in Kemp Hall. Some things that just needed to be done are now getting done because there's some stability, there's some financial predictability. And I think the other part of that, we have some great people, wonderful people here as elders leading the teams who are forward-looking and really want to see the place keep moving in that direction.”

For now, Brandt is concentrating on the biggest time of year for the church.

“Christmas is like the World Series for churches,” the affable Brandt said. “Easter is like the Super Bowl."