They said yes! We’re thrilled to welcome Isaiah and Heather to our February Brunch: we love their story, and we love them. You probably will, too.
Heather (Downie) Brooms grew up here in Arlington. She studied Education at UVA and taught in Arlington Public Schools for 6 years. She has facilitated racial reconciliation training in and around the Arlington School system. Lately she’s discovering the joy and peace of walking in the woods and slowwww cooking (like making recipes that take longer than 20 minutes).
Isaiah grew up in inner-city Chicago, and through the help of some friends and a lot of guidance from God he went from a public school system to a Catholic school, and through the grace of God he was accepted and attended a private boarding school in Indiana. He attended Bradley University in the heart of the Midwest majoring in Theater Education and minoring in Communications. He has worked as a teacher in the Chicago public school system, the Assistant Director of Admissions at a private boarding school, and for 10 years in the college admissions world, where he was a Director of Admissions. Along the way, he has had very interesting jobs that God has used in very interesting ways. Those jobs include a search engine optimizer, Papa John's, a professional actor in LA and Chicago, the youngest runner at The Chicago Board of Trade, the lead singer of a band in Chicago…. And the list goes on and on.
After answering the call to ministry Isaiah left College Admissions and became the Director of Youth Ministries at Restoration Anglican Church. He completed his theological training at Trinity School for Ministry where he earned his Master’s degree. Shortly after being ordained a priest in 2020, he accepted a position as the Associate Pastor for Community Life at The Falls Church Anglican. The first time in their 300 year history that a black priest has served on staff. Isaiah is also a lead trainer in racial reconciliation coaching for pastors and Business professionals nationally with an organization called Arrabon.
Heather and Isaiah met online—and they’ve been married 8 years. They have 3 beautiful daughters - Brynn (6), Avery (5), Clara Grace (almost 3). They live in Arlington.