Rev. Billy Cole Passes

Rev. William H. “Billy” Cole passed away on 27 July 2009 at his West Virginia home.  Bro. Cole was well-known in the United Pentecostal Church for his great faith and his leadership in international Holy Ghost crusades.

According to his obituary, Bro. Cole established churches in Ravenswood and Wheeling, West Virginia.  He also planted 53 churches in Thailand, where he baptized 289 Buddhist priests in the Name of Jesus.

William Cole was born 28 July 1934 in Newark, Ohio to the late Rev. Jewell Colonel Cole and Mary Shirely Cole.  He is survived by his wife, Shirley; one daughter and son-inlaw, Brenda and Rondel Moss II; three grandchildren and their spouses.  Services will be held at North Charleston Apostolic Church in West Virginia on 4 August.

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Apostolic Boy Killed in San Jose; Family Finds Comfort in Faith and Forgiveness

Tuesday, Isaac Young, a 6-year-old member of Light of the World Apostolic Cathedral Church in San Jose, California went to be with the Lord when his family’s minivan was struck by a speeding pickup truck driven by 36-year-old Gary Westover.

The Young family was leaving a weekly prayer service at the church pastored by Isaac’s mother Theodoris and his aunt, Theadra.  Theodoris remains hospitalized with a lacertaed liver.  Christopher Young, the father, has a broken arm, and 8-year-old Aaron sustained only minor bruising.

Gary Westover was arrested at the scene of the accident for driving drunk.  Sis. Marie Price, Isaac’s grandmother, said:  “I don’t hate him [Westover].  Today, I don’t like him.  But no, I don’t hate him.  I pray for his soul.”  This family is given to prayer and praise, and Isaac was a fervent worshipper and an accomplished drummer, placing second in the church’s drum-off competition.  In the service just before his death, Isaac testified, thanking God for his family and asking church members to pray for his father who recently became unemployed.

In their grief, the Youngs believe that they must accept God’s will.  Christopher Young says:  “My faith has not been skahen.  I’m in good spirits.  I’m staying prayerful.”

Please remember this family in prayer.  Condolences may be sent to Light of the World Apostolic Cathedral at 3777 Quimby Rd., San Jose, CA 95148.

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Mother of COGIC’s Presiding Bishop Dies at Age 95

The mother of Bishop Charles E. Blake, Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal denomination, has died in San Diego, California at the age of 95.

Lula Blake was the widow of Bishop J.A. Blake and remained a member of the church that her husband led before his death in November 1984.  J.A. Blake Jr. is the present pastor of the assembly, the Fountain of Life Church of God in Christ.

Charles E. Blake is the seventh successive Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, founded by Charles Harrison Mason, who received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at the Azusa Street Mission.  Unlike many Pentecostal denominations, the Church of God in Christ retained a strong Holiness theology, teaching sanctification as an essential second work of grace before receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Services for Mother Lula Blake will be held in San Diego on Friday, 16 January at Bayview Baptist Church.

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Apostolic Minister Succumbs, Saw Daughter Compete in 2004 Olympics

Rev. David Williams, a minister at the Apostolic House of Faith Church in Columbiana, Ohio, died this week at the age of 55.  Rev. Williams struggled for 20 years with leukemia.

In 2004, residents of Western Pennsylvania raised money to send Williams to Athens, Greece to see his daughter, Lauryn, compete in the Olympics, where she achieved a silver metal for sprinting.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Williams was himself an athletic competitor before coming to the United States in 1969.

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Former Texas A&M Coach’s Apostolic Mother passes away

Mary Lou Slocum, the mother of Texas A&M Hall of Fame football coach, R.C. Slocum, passed away late Thursday at a Bryan nursing home. She had been staying in the Bryan nursing home after being evacuated from Orange, TX due to Hurricane Ike. She was 88.

Visitation will be held at the United Pentecostal Church at 3406 Edgar Brown Drive in Orange. on Monday, Sept. 29 from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. The funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. also at the United Pentecostal Church.

The pastor at Orange United Pentecostal Church, Reverend Gary Wheeler, said that she was one of the sweetest and Godliest women he had ever met.

Missionary James M. Burton goes home

BURTON Rev. James M. Burton, passed from this world to the next on Thursday, September 4th, 2008, at the age of 78.

Reverend Burton was regional director  to South America and missionary to Venezuela and Uruguay from 1961 to 2000. Reverend Burton was an ordained minister of the United Pentecostal Church

Brother Burton was survived by his wife Martha (nee Schafer), his children; Lonnie (Gail), Larry, Lynn (Cornell), Lowell (Belkis) and Lewis (Adriana) Burton and Lisa (Steve) Marx, also survived by 15 grand and 17 great-grandchildren. and dear brother-in-law of Paul (Juanita) Schafer.

Visitation at Calvary Church, 11970 Kenn Rd., Springdale, OH 45240 Monday from 6:30 p.m. until the funeral service at 7:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to United Pentecostal Church, FMD acct.#988, 8855 Dunn Rd., Hazelwood, MO 63042 for the new bible school in Venezuela. Hodapp Funeral Home, West Chester, serving the family.

July 25th, 2008, the Home going of Sister Netta Stanford, Wife of Brother Denver Stanford Sr.

Netta Stanford, 73, of Milford, DE formerly of Forney, TX passed away peacefully on Friday, July 25, 2008 at Delaware Hospice Center, surrounded by her family. Mrs. Stanford was born in Flat Ridge, VA the daughter of the late Walter and Jincy (Vaught) ton. Mrs. Stanford received her BA in Theology from TwinCities University, West Monroe, LA. She was a homemaker. She married Rev. Denver Lee Stanford in 1956 and became an important part of his ministry.

To many, she was known as the Soul Winner, leaving quite a legacy behind. Her dedication to her family and her faith in God will be her legacy – a true legacy of love. She will be remembered as a warm and generous lady. She was a member of the Lighthouse Christian Center, Milford and of United Pentecostal International.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son Rev. Denver L. Stanford, Jr. in 2007 and two brothers Edsel and Carson ton.

She is survived by her husband of 52 years Rev. Denver Lee Stanford, Sr.; a son and daughter-in-law Nathan Avery and Stacey Stanford, of Harrington; a daughter-in-law Nanette Stanford, of Garland, TX; 5 grandchildren Dana Stanford, Janae Stanford, Nathan Avery Stanford II, Douglas Anthony Stanford and Christopher Warren Stanford and 2 brothers Walter ton, Jr. and his wife Betty, of Cherry Hill, MD and Wilmer ton and his wife Phyllis, of Calvert, MD.

Friends may call on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 from 6 – 8 pm at the Lighthouse Christian Center, 662 Milford – Harrington Highway, Milford. Friends may also call at the church on Wednesday afternoon July 30 from 12 – 1 p.m. with funeral services being held at 1:00 p.m. Burial will be in Barratt’s Chapel Cemetery, Frederica, DE.

PAW Minister Dies in Flint, Michigan

Rev. Beverly Jean Moore died in Friday, July 18, at her home in Flint, Michigan.  She was a staff pastor at Bethlehem Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, a position she assumed in 1977.

Rev. Moore was ordained by the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and was a gifted singer, evangelist, and Bible teacher.  She also served as a member of the International Missionary and Christian Women’s Association.

Rev. Moore was reared in the Apostolic Faith under the ministry of her grandfather, Bishop George Lucas, at the Spiritual Israel Church of the Apostolic Faith in Flint, Michigan.

She is survived by her 3 sons, 6 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and 6 sisters.

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Rev. Jesse T. Jones, UPC Pastor, Succumbs

Rev. Jesse T. Jones, pastor of the United Pentecostal Church of Palacios (Palacios, TX), died 26 June at the age of 77.  He was born 22 November 1930 in Old Gulf, Texas to Moses Dewitt and Mary Victoria Ham Jones and had been a resident of Palacios for 35 years.

Services will be held at Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Bay City, Texas, and Rev. Marvin Cole and Rev. C.M. Becton will officiate.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley, three daughters, and several other close relatives.

Please pray for the Jones family and the members of the United Pentecostal Church of Palacios.

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Rev. Lester D. Gwaltney Dies in St. Louis

Bro. Lester D. Gwaltney, founder of First United Pentecostal Church in St. Charles, Missouri died on June 3rd at the age of 81. 

Bro. Gwaltney and his wife, Alice, founded First United Pentecostal in 1963.

Services for Bro. Gwaltney will be held at Winds of Pentecost Church in St. Charles, Missouri.

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Rambo Services Attract Prestigious Mourners

Dottie Rambo was a gospel legend, and her tragic death in a May 11th bus crash shook the gospel music community.  Her funeral was held at Christ Church in Nashville, a megachurch led by former UPC minister L.H. Hardwick.

Rambo’s monumental contributions to gospel music were recognized, and a gathering of some of the most significant Christian recording artists testified to her musical impact.  A 250-member choir performed at the services including prestigious singers like Bill and Gloria Gaither, Sandi Patty, Andrae Crouch, Babbie Mason, and Michael W. Smith.  More than 15 of Rambo’s songs were performed at the celebration.

President George W. Bush wrote a letter of condolence to the family and sent her family the flag flown over the White House on Mother’s Day to commemorate her passing.

Dottie Rambo will be immortalized through over 2,500 songs that she wrote during her lifetime.

Click here to read the full story.

 

Dottie Rambo Tribute and Funeral

Gospel great Dottie Rambo, 74, died in a bus crash near Springfield, Mo., early Sunday morning, May 10, 2008.

Reports are that overnight storms and high winds caused the 1997 Prevost bus to crash into a guard rail and an embankment around 2:20 a.m. on I-44, two miles east of Mt. Vernon, Mo.

Ms. Rambo was traveling from Springfield, Mo., to Texas when the crash occured. Ms. Rambo was a prolific writer and singer whose hits include: We Shall Behold Him, Holy Spirit Thou Art Welcome, I Go To The Rock, and Sheltered In The Arms Of God.

Elvis Presley, Barbara Mandrell, Carol Channing, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton are among those who have recorded Ms. Rambo’s songs.

By age 12, she became a born-again Christian, a decision her dad abhorred. He ended up kicking her out of the house, and Ms. Rambo started her Christian career.

Ms. Rambo met Buck Rambo at age 16 and they married soon after, forming a gospel trio that would launch a 50+ years career in Christian music.

GospelMusicUpdate.com has posted an audio tribute to Dottie Rambo from Moody Radio. 

Click HERE or visit http://www.gospelmusicupdate.com to listen. (may take awhile to load)

Dottie Rambo’s Memorial Service will be today, May 19, at 1:00 PM. The service will be held at  Christ Church in Nashville, TN.

Click HERE to visit a new blog created in honor of her. 

PAW Bishop in Arkansas Succumbs

Bishop Samuel Lee Jones died 7 May 2008 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  He was the founder of Grace Apostolic Faith Church in Pine Bluff at the age of 70.

Bishop Jones was baptized at age 6 and filled with the Holy Ghost at the age of 18 under the ministry of Bishop A.J. Streets in St. Louis, where he became a member of the influential Bethesda Temple and later served as assistant pastor of the assembly.  He also served as Chairman of the Youth Department of the Midwestern District Council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World while in Missouri.

He founded Grace Apostolic Faith Church in Pine Bluff in 1985.

Click here to read the full story.

Gospel singer Dottie Rambo dies

Gospel singer Dottie Joyce Rambo dies

(Published May 11, 2008)

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Gospel singer-songwriter Joyce “Dottie” Rambo died early Sunday when the bus she was in ran off a road in southwest Missouri and struck an embankment.

Rambo, 74, of Nashville, Tenn., died in the crash about two miles east of Mount Vernon on Interstate 44, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Seven other people in the bus were injured, and were hospitalized in Springfield with moderate to severe injuries, the patrol said.

Rambo wrote and published some 2,500 songs, winning gospel song of the year in 1982. She entered the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame last year.

Some songs written by Dottie:

• We Shall Behold Him
• Holy Spirit Thou Art Welcome
• I Go to the Rock
• Sheltered in the Arms of God
• He Looked Beyond My Fault
• Tears Will Never Stain The Streets Of That City
• If That Isn’t Love

Full Story Here

In Memoriam: Reverend James Mcfall

The Neshoba Democrat

Honest to the core and faithful to the end, Pastor James McFall breathed the refreshing breath of Heaven Monday, April 28, 2008. Rising from the dust of a sharecropper’s farm, Pastor McFall rose to the challange of building a life with the gifts given to him and the challenges faced by him.

His easy smile and pure laughter served him well as God gave him songs of hope that would ring around the world. Known best for his hits such as “Thank God I’m Free” and “I Still Trust You”,
his steady hand would pen over 300 songs of faith. Singers such as Bill Gaither, Karen Peck, The Happy Goodmans, The Hemphills, J.D. Sumner and countless others sang his songs across the world.  Still, his love for his children, grandchildren, and Bethlehem Church would always be the source of his greatest pride.

A champion of the ordinary, a believer in the supernatural and an advocate for the common man, James McFall was a legend in his time. Papa…Pastor…Friend. Be sure that today “The Master is looking your Way.”

The Funeral will be held Friday, May 2, 2008, at the First United Pentecostal Church, in Philadelphia, MS.