IT IS always difficult to pay proper tribute to any effective leader in the church of God. But when that leader is E. E. Cleveland, it is well-nigh impossible. Few, if any, have made a greater contribution to the soulwinning program of the church. In many other areas of his ministry the record is unexcelled.
Can you imagine a boy of 6 earnestly and sincerely preaching the gospel? Even at this young age Earl knew that God had called him to be a minister. From the ages of 9 to 15 he was recognized as a boy preacher in some of the Sunday-keeping churches in his area. At age 13 he served as Sabbath school superintendent in his home church in Chattanooga. His greatest thrill as a child came when an evangelist pitched a tent and began to preach the Word. Even before his feet could touch the sawdust his father carried him nightly to hear the gospel pro claimed. During these impressionable years he dreamed that someday he would be an evangelist preaching the three angels' messages.
One of his close associates, J. R. Spangler, states, "My personal acquaintance with Earl dates back to 1950 when both of us were holding evangelistic tent meetings in Mobile, Alabama. I followed his progress through the years and from time to time heard him preach. Our paths of duty finally joined for a four-month period of time when he came to the Far Eastern Division, where I was the Ministerial Association secretary. We conducted ministerial institutes together throughout the entire division. The lessons that I learned from him at that time have had a lasting influence on my life and ministry. One such lesson stands out in importance: During our travels together in the Orient I found him taking pictures of the best sights and places he could find. This was his policy whether it was Japan or Borneo, the Philippines or Indonesia. Some of us who should have known better were taking pictures to illustrate the backward and extraordinary conditions in the country to bring back home to shock the people. He talked and showed the best side of any culture, regardless of how poor or backward they may have been. That bit of education caused me to change my picture-taking habits." Here was an evangelist from black America sharing all of his success secrets with men of many nationalities and languages.
Wherever he goes he inspires men with a vision of greater evangelism and helps them to see clearly how this can be accomplished. His wisdom and foresight, coupled with Christian courtesy and tact, have enabled him to divert many a crisis that otherwise might have brought great embarrassment and dis tress to the cause of God.
Undoubtedly, Earl owes much of his attitude to his devoted Christian parents. His father spent one year at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College in Nashville on a football scholarship. His mother was a schoolteacher. They ate well, dressed well, even during the great depression of the thirties. His father was a stranger to laziness, working from sunup to sun down to support his family. He taught his children to hold their heads high, even though they lived where racial policies created an impression that black men were inferior.
His parents became Seventh-day Adventists in Huntsville, Alabama. His father, William, got a job with an Adventist cleaning and pressing establishment. Someone sold him a Bible Readings for the Home Circle, and through the reading of this book, plus the influence of certain godly Adventists, both parents were soon baptized. It was not long until Earl's father was put to work in the church, where he served for nearly forty years as local elder. He filled other positions of leadership also, including leading the choir. Mother Eunice perhaps had some qualities similar to the Bible Eunice. She, you recall, was the mother of Timothy. Earl's mother was one of those quiet Christians who did not participate openly in church-leadership positions but was respected for her sterling Christian character.
The Protestant work ethic was an integral part of Earl's training. He learned the dignity of labor at age 12 by pushing a cart selling ice-cream "snow balls" in the summertime, and by man aging a coal bin where he sold wood and coal during the winter. But his hard work did not deprive him completely of recreational activities such as baseball, tennis, and ping pong.
His first seven years of education were taken at our Adventist school in Chattanooga. He graduated with honors from the East 5th Street Junior High School. It comes as no surprise that he was the valedictorian and president of his class when graduating from Howard High School. His next graduation was from Oakwood Junior College in the year 1942. Since then he has received numerous honors and commendations, among which is a D.D. degree from Andrews University; an L.L.D. degree from Daniel Payne College; and a Doctor of Humanities degree from Union Baptist Seminary. He was chosen as Alumnus of the Year by the Oakwood College Alumni Association in 1969. In 1976 he was listed in Who's Who in Black America.
Perhaps his best exhibition of good judgment—and he demonstrates much—was his choice of a life companion. On the campus of Oakwood College Earl met Celia Marie Dabney, whom he later married. She has worked faithfully in his evangelistic endeavors, playing the piano as only Celia can play it, and working as a Bible instructor. She has personally led more than 2,500 souls to Christ through her ministry. Earl is quick to state that without her support and godly life his achievements could not have been accomplished. The Clevelands have one son, Earl Clifford, and a lovely daughter-in-law, Shelly Rene.
Earl began his pastoral ministry in 1943 at High Point, North Carolina. When he finished Oakwood College he received two invitations for a temporary ministry. One was in Georgia and the other was in Columbus, Ohio. He picked the tent effort in Columbus, and when the meeting was over, since no conference had an opening, he did self-sup porting work in Toledo. Life was very difficult for him during that winter. He moved to Paducah, Kentucky, and there taught school for a month, then was called to his first pastorate, in the Carolina Conference, in June of that year. Incidentally, he had to preach a trial sermon in order to impress H. E. Lysinger, the president, and the other members of the committee that he should be chosen as an intern for that field.
At one point in his ministry Earl pastored as many as eight churches and carried a weekly radio-broadcast in three of the cities. He had his own Bible correspondence course, with as many as 800 students at one time. In those days he conducted one public campaign per year, which lasted from twelve to twenty weeks, six nights per week. After six years the conference officials recognized his call to the ministry, and he was ordained.
In 1947 he was called to full-time evangelism and was made Southern Union evangelist in 1950. In 1954 he was elected to the Ministerial Association of the General Conference, where he has served continuously for twenty-three years.
The outstanding results of his evangelism can be summed up as follows: During his thirty-three years in the ministry he has averaged two souls baptized per Sabbath. More than 9,000 individuals have been led to Christ through his ministry. His Port-of-Spain campaign in Trinidad is noted as one of the largest single evangelistic campaigns conducted in the history of the church. More than 1,000 souls came into the message as a direct result of that campaign. Elder Cleveland takes no credit to himself, however, for this remarkable record. Instead, he gives the glory to God and fully recognizes the valuable contribution made by the men who were associated with him. Fifteen active ministers are in the cause today who are the result of his soul-winning endeavors. He has traveled in sixty-nine countries, preached the gospel in forty-seven of them, and more than 900 ministers have received field training from him during these years.
Among other achievements, Earl cofounded the Inner City program and the church's Human Relations Committee, of which he has been a member since its inception. He initiated the seven-hour prayer meeting, which is observed in more than 1,300 churches across North America. He also initiated the Floating Seminar, a part of the continuing-education program for the parish minister. He has also led out in North America's yearly mission program.
His work has gone far beyond pioneering policies that have benefited our black work in America. His outstanding contribution has been felt in hundreds of workers' meetings, schools, and institutions in every division of the world field, and he has ministered to men of all nationalities and races and has won their confidence. This report, although extremely sketchy, could not be closed without mentioning the fact that he has written nine books: Free at Last, Ask the Prophets, Living Soul, Without a Song, Come Unto Me, Mine Eyes Have Seen, Sparks From the Anvil, The Middle Wall, and No Stranger Now.
We in the Ministerial Association have found Earl to be a loyal and true friend. His counsel has been most valuable. His cooperation has been full and complete. His sense of humor has lightened up many a situation that otherwise could have been dark with tension and suspicion. When Earl and Celia leave us the middle of August, the Ministerial Association will miss their valuable contribution. We wish them Godspeed as they take up their new responsibilities, and know that their influence on the lives of the students at Oakwood College will serve to hasten the spread of the message. We eagerly look forward to that day when there will be no more good-bys, no farewells, and we will be together forever in the earth made new.
N.R.D.
