Brownsberger's early commitment to his newfound faith faltered. Looking back at those early years of struggling faith, he described the Holy Spirit striving with him telling him to stop trifling and be a man. After his graduation he became superintendent of schools in Maumee, Ohio, and then superintendent of schools in Delta, Ohio. It was here that he resumed his observance of the Sabbath. The following year (1873), Adventist church leaders invited him to head the fledgling school that had been established in Battle Creek, Michigan.