Books by Dr. Bernie L. Wade

Does God Have a Name?

Baptism According to Matthew 28:19

The Next Wave – Restoration of the Charismata

I Was the Ugly Duckling

History of Apostolic Reformation

The Biblical Marriage Manual

How to Be a Christian Without Going to Church

IS CHRISTMASs CHRISTIAN?

The Israel of God - A Destiny Enjoyed

History of the Apostolic Faith Church of God

The Original Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ

Books by Other Authors

I AM – By Dr. John Roberts

CHURCH GOVERNMENT – By Dr. Barney Phillips

The Church – Dr. Robert Straube

Foundational Discipling Principles – Dr. Robert Straube

Foundational Discipling Principles

Dr. Robert Straube

Ephesians 4:11-14 "And He Himself gave some [to be]

apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some

pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the

work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till

we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of

the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the

stature of the fullness of Christ"

Foundational Discipling Principles is now on sale on

Amazon.com: www.amazon.com/Foundational-Discipling-Principles-Robert-

Straube/dp/1615799354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273604574&sr=1-1

“Doctrine is truth lifted from Scripture and dedicated to purpose.”

Apostolic Faith Church of God

©2012

Dr. Bernie L. Wade

Published by Truth, Liberty and Freedom Press (T.L.F.P.).

PO. Box 72

Sulphur, KY 40070

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to Bishop Sanford L. and Georgia A. Wade (my Mother and Father),

Bishop George A. and Lois E. Wade (my Grandfather and Grandmother) and the

many saints of the Apostolic Faith Church of God then and now.

I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to the path paved before us by those

who have already gone to their eternal home. Only eternity can know the

impact of their sacrifice.

Special thanks to my father who worked with me on the content of this book

both in pictures and text. Special thanks to Sister Frieda Thompson, Elder

Bernie Tucker and to others who contributed to this work.

Apostolic Faith Church of God 1956 Adult Sunday school. Front Row (L to R) Elder Jesse and Sister Miner, Volie and Bishop Milton Green. Bishop Ray and Sister Ruth Cornell. Sister Lois and Bishop George A. Wade, Sister and Bishop Author Leslie. Second row: Marge Anderson, not sure, Sister Joan Nemeth, Sister Thelma Murphy, Sister Lillian Pazdernick, Mother Pollack, Sister Householder, Sister Betty Cornell, Sister Ethel Olsen. Third row: Bro. Hallberg, Bishop Lecil Pollack, Delcie Pollack, Sister Mae Boyce, Sister Peggy Nemeth, not sure, Sister Yvonne Victor and son Ronnie, Sister Staten, Sister Tucker, Sister Ruth Shoppe. Fourth Row: Bishop David Cornell, Sister Coleman, Sister Peggy, not sure, Sister Bobby Cooper, Sister Jean McDaniel, Sister Mildred Bailey, Bro. Joe, Bro. Coleman. Back Row (L to R) Bernie Tucker, Bishop France Thompson, Bro. Bill Nemath, not sure, Bro. Amos McDaniel, Bro. Bill Carmichael, Bro. Don David, Bro. Harold Anderson.

APOSTOLIC FAITH CHURCH OF GOD

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the

Apostolic Faith Church of God (AFCOG). The Church was

located at 2050 W. 55th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. My

family was intimately involved in this ministry. Church and

ministry were part of my life from the beginning and

AFCOG was our church home.

The pastor and founder of Apostolic Faith Church of God

was the late Bishop Ray Oscar along with his wife Sister

Ruth Cornell. It was here at AFCOG that I heard my first

gospel song, my first sermon, and the first time I saw

someone shout and dance in the Spirit. The first time I

heard someone speak with other tongues as the Spirit

gave utterance and a plethora of things that have impacted

my entire life. Here I first felt conviction, first prayed at an

altar and first realized my need for a savior. Here at AFCOG I sang my first song with

my Brother Brian. We sang a song written by Joe Hatfield, “Old Time Preacher Man”.

In my mind, I can still see the old church, hear the people and even smell the unique

smell that I associated with the basement. I think it was some kind of disinfectant! I

remember vividly the basement walls where my talented maternal Aunt, Jane Kisner,

painted the scene from Noah‟s ark in huge lifelike characters in a continual mural all

around the basement. Noah‟s ark was real to me and when I think of Noah‟s ark I think

of that mural. The stories of the old church and the people who fellowshipped there

would fill volumes. This is just one of those volumes.

Organized in the 1930‟s, this church by the time of my arrival was a sizeable

congregation and was the mother church for a number of other Cleveland Ohio area

congregations. I saw recently a Cleveland area

church claiming to be the mother church for all

Pentecostal churches in Cleveland. History revision

is alive and well, for not even Bishop Cornell could

claim his Apostolic Faith Church of God was the first

Pentecostal Church in Cleveland, but it certainly was

older than almost all the others. Even Brother

Hungerford‟s East Side Church (which Bishop

Cornell had been part of when first coming to

Cleveland) probably wasn‟t the „mother church‟. The

Apostolic Faith movement had begun at the turn of the

Century in Topeka, Kansas. It was from this Apostolic Faith group that our church

developed.

Azusa Street Mission

Bishop Ray O. Cornell and Bishop George A. Wade

The catalyst for the growth and expansion of what would later be called the Pentecostal

Movement came from the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles California. The

Pentecostal Movement in general and in particular Bishop William Seymour‟s group the

Apostolic Faith Church of God came out of Apostolic Faith movement championed by

Charles F. Parham. “The Apostolic Faith Churches of God traces its history to 1909

when William J. Seymour, under whose leadership the original Pentecostal revival in

Los Angeles, California, visited Washington, D.C. From the mission on Azusa Street in

Los Angeles which Seymour pastored, the Pentecostal Movement spread around the

United States. Accompanying Seymour on his visit was Charles H. Mason, founder of

the Church of God in Christ.”1

Bishop Cornell was part of that historic “Apostolic Faith” group.

He knew the history of the Apostolic Faith movement and the

subsequent Pentecostal Movement. The words Apostolic

Faith Church were older than Azusa Street as this was also

the name that Charles F. Parham called his church in 1901. In

naming the church Apostolic Faith Church of God, Bishop

Cornell and the saints of the church were giving honor to those

who had hazarded their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for

the gospel a generation before. They were making it clear that

they identified with a movement that sought to restore the

church to the original Apostles doctrine. There were many of

these Apostolic Faith Churches around the country that were

loosely connected with the original group in Los Angeles2,

which itself was a daughter work from the original Apostolic Faith group of Charles

Parham.

After his conversion in 1930, my paternal Grandfather (I call him Pappaw) the late

Bishop George A. Wade, Sr., would serve on the Elder Board of AFCOG and served as

the Assistant pastor for many years. From its early days Bishop Cornell realized to

pastor effectively he needed help and input. From this came the Board of Elders. To

this end, AFCOG was directed by this Board of Elders. Key men who were full of the

Holy Ghost much like the early church in the Book of Acts. My father, Bishop Sanford L.

Wade also served on the Board of Elders. Others who served on the Elder Board

included: Pastor France Thompson, Elder Bernie Tucker, Elder Lecil Pollack, Elder

1 Black Pentecostals. http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ear_01/ear_01_00080.html

2 Black Pentecostals. Among the people affected by their new teachings of Pentecostalism was Charles

W. Lowe of Handsom, Virginia, who in turn founded the Apostolic Faith Church of God, which was loosely affiliated with Seymour's organization in Los Angeles.

Bishop G. B. Rowe

Pogue, Sr., Elder Harold Anderson, Pastor Milton Green, Pastor David Cornell and

more.

The beginning for what would become Apostolic Faith

Church of God (AFCOG) in Cleveland, Ohio was in

the early 1930‟s when Bishop Ray Cornell, his wife

Ruth and their family, moved from Mishawaka

Indiana to work in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cornell‟s

were from Greater Midway Gospel Tabernacle (later

Apostolic Temple) in Mishawaka, Indiana where the

late Bishop Glen Beecher (G. B.) Rowe3 was pastor.

Bishop G. B. Rowe was a contemporary of the

leaders of the early Pentecostal movement and a

fixture in the original Pentecostal Assemblies of the

World (PAW) at the time of other legendary figures

such as Bishop G. T. Haywood. From this original PAW came such groups as the

PAJC, UPC, Reorganized PAW (the PAW as it is today), ALJC, ACOJC, ICOF and

many others.

The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW) began in 1906 and

took a prominent position due to a doctrinal separation from

Pentecostal conflicts in the years 1913-1919, and matured as a

collection of ministers regardless of race, creed or color.

Unfortunately, first by the departure of white brethren over

racism (circa 1924) and then later (after a merger and

subsequent reorganization) the PAW migrated from being

multicultural to being segregated into primarily a black Pentecostal

denomination.

In the days of Bishops Rowe and Haywood the PAW was totally

integrated. Bishop G. B. Rowe was selected as one of the five

original Bishops of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW).4 Bishop G. B.

Rowe (Bishop Cornell‟s pastor) was another of these original five. It was from this

historic church and family in the Pentecostal movement that Bishop Cornell and his

family migrated to Cleveland. Bishop Ray Oscar Cornell, this son in the gospel to

Bishop G. B. Rowe had come to Cleveland for a purpose. There they would continue

the legacy.

3 http://apostolictemplechurch.com/content/view/43/113/ In the year of 1918, the late Bishop G.B.

Rowe and his wife founded the Midway Gospel Tabernacle, now known as the Apostolic Temple Church, Inc. 4 Apostolic Archives. Bishop Glen Beacher Rowe. http://www.apostolicarchives.com/whoswho_r.html

Bishop G. T. Haywood

Bishop and Sister Cornell in 1957 at the 25th

Anniversary of AFCOG

In the 1930‟s, the Cornell‟s came to Cleveland. Bishop Cornell worked for the

Westinghouse Corporation. There the Cornell‟s attended Brother Hungerford‟s church

which was on the East Side of Cleveland. Brother Hungerford was a dedicated man of

God, had vision and felt a burden for the entire Cleveland area. Of particular note to

him was the West Side of Cleveland. He realized that there were many souls on the

West Side of the city that were not being reached and to get them to come to his

assembly on the east side was a difficult task at best especially in the financially

troubled times of the Great Depression. He encouraged Brother Cornell to take his

family and start a work on the West Side to meet that need. That work began in a

storefront building near or at the corner of 58th and Madison, in the shadow of a large

Catholic church, St. Stephens. The first service was held on January 1, 1932. The

church remained at that location until 1936.5

In typical Pentecostal fashion,

powerful services were held in that

church storefront and the work of

God began to grow. People were

being born of the water and of the

Spirit. The depression Era was

fertile ground to sow hope, healing

and help. The Word of God

offered all of that and more.

Cleveland was a booming city

where there was work and many

were coming from surrounding states

(primarily, Kentucky, Pennsylvania,

Ohio and Tennessee) looking for employment.

The Pentecostal Church, AFCOG on the West Side of the city was not well received by

all. Some of the predominately Catholic population of that community didn‟t appreciate

this Christian sect, these Pentecostal who were making so much noise (both literally

and figuratively) in their neighborhood. One of my favorite stories from the old church

showed the demonstration and power of the Holy Ghost. Of course I am too young to

have been there but I remember hearing my grandfather and my father recount how one

night while Bishop Cornell was preaching, some men, a small mob, came into the

church and physically drug Bishop Cornell from the pulpit and into the street. They

were quite unhappy with the presence of the Pentecostal Church and this preaching

and they were making it publicly known. Once they had finished dragging Bishop

Cornell to the street they, and more of their mob, proceeded to pummel him with bricks.

When it was over Bishop Cornell was either dead or near dead. In either case, the

5 http://raycornell.wordpress.com/history-of-the-pastor-and-church/

Apostolic Faith Church of God Convention

saints of the Church gathered around their pastor, began to pray and in a little while

Bishop Cornell not only got up but he returned to the pulpit and finished his message.

THE SHOW

It was in the old building at 58th and Madison in an

almost forgotten part of the city of Cleveland that

our connection with this destiny began. My

grandfather had moved from the Knoxville

Tennessee area to Cleveland looking for work.

The Great Depression was in full swing and jobs

were scarce. Our family on Pappaw‟s side had

been Baptists as long as anyone could remember.

Since the Civil War had divided Baptist believers

based on the North and South struggle Papaw

had been raised Southern Baptist. As a child

growing up he had not just gone to church but had

been impacted by the message of Christ.

Unfortunately, he had long before lost his way and living for God and church were near

the last things on his mind. In the struggle for self Pap paw had become like so many of

the masses; just another man working in the factories trying to make a living for his

family the best he knew how.

Pappaw‟s Baptist family was devout in their Christian faith and was fixtures in their East

Tennessee (Blaine) community. My great grandfather was a college educated man and

Papaw remembered him as a man of prayer. Papaw said his father would go down by

the woodshed and pray. There Papaw would later realize that what he had observed of

his father‟s prayer sessions was that his father often spoke in other tongues as the Spirit

gave utterance. This was something most people didn‟t know much about and

you certainly didn‟t talk about in the Southern Baptist tradition, especially in the early

1900‟s. Although in many ways you still don‟t talk about speaking in tongues if you are

a Southern Baptist.

Pappaw in the late 1920‟s had come to Cleveland in search of employment to provide

for his small family. What he found would be so much more! Pappaw said that the

“Picture Show” as he called it, which was the movies, cost a dime. Even a dime was

often a lot in the 1920‟s so one didn‟t waste the opportunity. One night when scheduled

to go with some friends to the Picture Show, the friends suggested they go down and

(L to R) Elder Jesse Minor, Sister Esther Hallberg, Sister Ethel Olsen, Sister Bessie Carter, Sister Mae Boyce, Carol Green (Farber) and others at AFCOG

see the „Holy Rollers‟ instead. Holy Rollers was a slang term that has often been

associated with religious groups or movements that are very demonstrative6. Thus, the

Pentecostals had acquired the title. So, Pap paw and his friends agreed to go down to

the little Pentecostal storefront pastored by Bishop Ray Cornell primarily to watch and

make fun of the people as a form of entertainment. They were enamored with how

people there would jump and shout in demonstrative worship. The Pentecostal people

would clap and raise their hands and sometimes (if there was room) run the isles of the

building. My Great Aunt Nora, Mammaw‟s sister had received the Holy Ghost at

AFCOG and often invited my grandparents to church, but that didn‟t prompt them to

action.

Pappaw would later recount, “The show at the Pentecostal church was better than the

picture show, and it was free!”

So Pappaw kept going back for the „free show‟ at the Pentecostal Church. Soon, he

became aware that there was a hunger in his soul that was not being filled by his

employment, family or friends. This hunger had first manifested in his life as a child in

the Baptist church back home in Tennessee.

As a child, my grandfather had felt conviction and

realized his need for Salvation. He would go to the old

„mourner‟s bench‟ at his Baptist church and cry and

weep. When he went to the preacher at the Baptist

church and asked to be baptized they told him they

would baptize him in the spring of the year. In that

old Baptist church they didn‟t have a baptistery so

they relied on the river to do baptisms. Which was

fine except Pap paw fell under conviction in the

winter and they needed to wait for the river to thaw so

they could do baptisms. Waiting till spring for baptism

for a boy seemed like a long time especially when your father had just died and mother

was not well. By spring, that initial conviction was gone. However, Pappaw was

baptized anyway.

Later he would recall the event and respond with this, “I just went down (to baptism) a

dry devil and came up a wet one”.

Now, Pappaw, after so long a time had found his way back to church. Certainly not for

the right reasons, but none the less, he was back. The old church building had posts in

it as part of the structure. As Pappaw would feel the conviction coming from the Holy

Ghost on the man of God he would position himself so that he had one of those posts

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roller

A Mourners Bench like the one Pappaw used

between him and the speaker. It didn‟t help. At first Pappaw got mad at the preacher.

How dare he say those things!

He went home one night and said to my grandmother, “Mama (he always called her

Mama) do we have a bible around here? “

I often think of this when reaching out to the lost. Do they even have a copy of the word

of God? How can they read the Word if they don‟t have a bible? As it turned out they

did have a Bible. My grandmother‟s sister, Nora, had given my grandmother a bible.

Thank God for Great Aunt Nora! Papaw had taken time on his latest visit to the

Pentecostals to write down the Scriptures that the preacher had read. So, he looked

them up and read them for himself.

I remember Pappaw saying, “Well, I found out that the preacher was telling the truth. It

was right there in the bible. I was mad at the preacher but I might as well get mad at

God.”

AFCOG announced a revival service would begin and Pappaw made sure he was there

every night to hear the minister, one Brother William Thomas (W. T.)

Witherspoon. Brother W. T. Witherspoon pastored Apostolic

Gospel Church in Columbus, Ohio later served as Chairman of

the PAJC and Asst. General Superintendent of the United

Pentecostal Church (UPC). Bishop Cornell also served with the

PAJC as a District Elder from Cleveland Ohio7.

When Pappaw heard people speaking with tongues as the Spirit

gave utterance he realized, “that was what my daddy had; this Holy

Ghost”. He remembered his father would speak in tongues

down by the old wood shed during his prayer time!” By the end

of the Witherspoon revival Pappaw was captivated and under

heavy conviction. He wanted whatever these people had that

made them so happy and filled them with such love. Happiness in the great depression

was in short supply and Pappaw knew that what these people had was genuine. It was

usual for the Pentecostals of this era to talk about the happiness and great love that

people had one for another.

Pappaw followed the revival services across town to the next place Brother W. T.

Witherspoon was preaching. In those days the churches worked together rather than

fighting for the pre-eminence. It didn‟t‟ seem to matter what fellowship card you had or

organization you belonged to as long as you believed in Jesus! No one thought

anything of folks going to another church to hear the preaching, worship or enjoy the

7 The Pentecostal Outlook. Volume 7. No. 12. December 1938. Pg. 4.

Sister and Pastor W. T. Witherspoon

presence of the Lord. And thank God they didn‟t, because there in that next revival

service, George A. Wade, my grandfather gave his life to Jesus Christ and was baptized

in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of his sins. In exchange, the Lord

graciously filled him with His Holy Spirit and the destiny of our family was forever

altered.

Bishop Cornell was a good bible teacher, patient and nurturing. These are certainly

qualities of a fine pastor. Once Pappaw was filled the Holy Ghost (we used the King

James Bible and always referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost), he never looked

back. There was no in and out for him. There were certainly ups and downs and trials

and tests but Pap paw was sold out for Jesus! Like the lyrics of the song, “I HAVE

DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS, NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK!”

“In 1935, the church was incorporated and named

The Apostolic Faith Church of God. Then we

purchased an old foundry and factory building which

was in a very dilapidated condition at 2050 West 55th

Street and started working. All of the labor of repairing

and remodeling was done by the brethren of the

church. Our pastor laid bricks, did carpenter work and

acted as overseer of the work, toiling every evening

after he finished his day‟s work at the Westinghouse

Mfg. Co. and all day on Saturdays from 7 A.M. until 11

P.M. Many of the brethren in the church labored

faithfully with Elder Cornell in this huge new task

which took nearly a year as a new floor had to be laid, new roof put on, living quarters

built, and many loads of dirt hauled away. The total cost of the property and repairing

amounted to $11,470.00.”8 We moved into our new place of worship on April 8, 1936.

Meanwhile my Grandmother, Lois Wade, who I called Mammaw, was having none of it.

She was quite content to let Papaw go out with the Holy Rollers but she didn‟t need any

of that religion stuff. Mammaw had seen her fair share of hypocrites growing up and

she didn‟t have room in her life for any more. Her people were from Missouri and they

don‟t call it the “Show Me” State for nothing. She enjoyed going to the picture show and

that was where she would go when Papaw went to church. This was an escape for her.

One night Papaw went to church and Mammaw went to the movies as usual. During

the movie there was a scene of a house burning.

Mammaw later recounted, “I heard a voice as clear as day say, „Your house if on fire!”

Mammaw ran from the movie theater, down the street and all the way home. When she

8 http://raycornell.wordpress.com/history-of-the-pastor-and-church/

Bishop G. A. Wade and Brother Freddy

burst through the door of the house her oldest son, George, said, “Mom, you look like

you have seen a ghost!”

Apostolic Faith Church of God Convention May 1944 – three day meeting to celebrate paying off the church mortgage. Pappaw is on the left hand side

holding my Dad.

We know now what she didn‟t know then. The Holy Spirit was talking to her and yes,

her house was certainly on fire. She was going to have an encounter with a ghost, the

Holy Ghost! There was a fire ragging in her that if the course was unaltered she would

end in the Lake of Fire. Papaw had long quit asking her to join him to go to church.

One night right after the theater incident, when Papaw was getting ready he noticed

Mammaw getting ready also.

Pappaw said to her, “Where are you going?”

Mammaw replied, “To Church with you.”

And that was that. Later Mammaw also received the glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost

with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. She was also buried in baptism in the

glorious name of Jesus Christ to rise and walk in newness of life. Praise the name of

Jesus! Mammaw sold out to Jesus! She never looked back. She would become a

fixture in that church and later others. She was a Godly woman who was an example of

the believer. She would live to be over 100 years old. Her life was a testament of a

Godly woman, a Christian lady and a leader, committed to Jesus Christ every day of her

life.

When she was late in life she needed full time nursing help. These nurses generally

would come every day for a week or so, but near the end of her life we noticed that they

were changing nurses every day. Mammaw was witnessing to these ladies about Jesus

and they were under conviction. Right up to the end Mammaw was conducting own

Revival. At her 99th Birthday Party I asked her, “Mammaw, what do you learn in 100

years of living?” She said, “Oh, Honey, you learn to be sweet and humble.” So I am

trying to become sweet and humble, it is taking some effort.

Mammaw joined right into the work of AFCOG. Whatever Bishop Cornell needed done

my grandparents were right there working with him and Sister Cornell. Mammaw

starting helping in the kitchen and soon they were looking to her as head cook.

Someone had to take the lead for the huge conventions that the church had and

Mammaw was willing to help.

This first building was rented as the fledgling church could not afford to purchase a

place of worship. By 1935 the church had gotten a reputation for being quite noisy.

According to the owners, people in the neighborhood, primarily those who were

members of the Catholic Church were unhappy about the noise. Thus, after three

years, the owners refused to continue renting the building to the Church and asked

them to vacate.

Bishop Cornell told them AFCOG would find a new place. He also told them that after

the church vacated they would never see another use for the site. Sometime after the

church moved out the building burned to the ground and for some seven decades the

site was an empty lot. The power of the Prophet leading God‟s people had certainly

come to Cleveland.

In 1935 the Lord blessed the AFCOG with a new building. Well, to be honest a very old

building. It had been an old foundry. It was beside a brewery. If you have never been

in a foundry just know this, they are extremely dirty. How the men of the church ever

remodeled such a nasty old building into a place of worship is a testimony and my

Pappaw was one of those who labored to bring life to the old building. God honored the

labor.

They needed to acquire permits to remodel the old foundry building. Getting these

permits from the city to remodel the building proved to be elusive. After several

attempts to get the City of Cleveland to issue permits to Bishop Cornell was walking

through the City Hall building when a man said, “Hey, who are you?”

Bishop Cornell said, “I am a preacher. I am down here in yet another attempt to get

building permits to remodel an old factory building we bought. We want to remodel it for

a church.”

The man said, “Come with me. Bishop Cornell followed him. Turned out he was State

of Ohio building inspector. Bishop Cornell went with him to his office where he issued

Bishop Cornell State permits to remodel 2050 W. 55th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. God had

uniquely intervened to help the congregation of Apostolic Faith Church of God.

Pappaw used to recount this story to us. It was some three years since he had been

born again of the water and of the Spirit and he was committed to reading his bible and

studying to show himself approved (something he would do till the day he went to be

with Jesus). Papaw approached Bishop Cornell to ask him a question.

Pappaw, “Bishop Cornell, did you know that Jesus Christ is the mighty God?”

Bishop Cornell (Somewhat surprised and delighted), “Yes, Brother Wade, I did. That is

what I have been trying for three years to get you to understand.”

Front Row (L to R) Sister and Brother Coleman, Bishop Patterson, Sister and Bishop Cornell. 2nd

Row (L to R) unknown, Mammaw, Sister Staten behind her, Sister Householder, Sisters Marge Anderson, Ruth Shoppe and Sister Smith (Smity). Unknown, Mother Nemath and Sister Gene and Brother Amos McDaniel (Mammaw’s brother-in-law). Back Row (R to L)

Pappaw, Bishop Pogue, Elder Leonard Kohler, Brother Al Sacid, and Elder Harold Anderson.

Pappaw often recounted those early year by talking about sitting in bible class with men

such as Bishop G. T. Haywood, Bishop G. B. Rowe, Bishop Hancock, Brother Coot and

other legendary preachers of that era.

He would ask my father, “Do you remember when we sat in bible class with Bishop G.

T. Haywood teaching?

Dad would say, “No Dad, I don‟t remember those days.

Bishop Haywood died before I was born” (Bishop G. T.

Haywood died April 12, 1931).

Pappaw would say, “Oh, yes I forgot”.

But Pappaw remembered those old Elders from the

days before the white brethren pulled out of their

fellowship with the black brethren. Some say it was

that early division that caused Bishop Haywood to

die. They say he died of a broken heart. Those

were formative years in Pappaw‟s life. They

made such an impact on him that he wanted to

share those Bible truths with others. At AFCOG

they continued fellowshipping black brethren as

always.

This is a note from the 1940‟s, “In May, we held a three-day convention and dedicated it

unto the Lord. On December 23, 1944, the mortgage on the church was paid in full

without any outside help except the free-will offerings of our congregation. In the

summer of 1947 the entire church was redecorated, one new furnace installed, the

other two furnaces repaired, and an asphalt driveway put in at a cost of $3,100.00. We

borrowed $1,600.00 and paid the balance in cash. A special two week meeting was

held at that time and the church was rededicated.”9

I once asked my father, “What is different about the church today verses back then?”

Dad said, “Back then they lots of people came to church who had not been born of the

water and of the Spirit. There was no attempt to preach clothes line messages or to

preach so hard you would run them off. The people came and the saints had church,

prayer, and invited the Spirit of the Lord. When the conviction would fall that would

cause the unsaved to change their ways.

9 http://raycornell.wordpress.com/history-of-the-pastor-and-church/

Today, we run them off if they don‟t line up to our „Standards‟ right away and that is

usually all we see of them. So the difference is that back then about half of the people

were not spirit filled but came anyway. Today, we have decided we only want the half

that is Spirit filled. Back then we had opportunity every service for someone to get

saved because there were already sinners present.”

Bishop and Sister Cornell lived a good

life. They were modest in the way they

conducted themselves. He taught his

people this simple way to pattern your

life,

“Don’t be anywhere; don’t be

doing anything or saying anything

that you wouldn’t want to be when

the Lord returns.”

When Bishop Cornell had revival

services they were seldom short.

The old timers tell of a time when

they went 19 weeks in revival

without a night off! God can do

marvelous things if we let him. In 1943 Bro. Romine and his family from Indianapolis

came to Apostolic Faith Church of God. They held over a month of revival during which,

“one was baptized and four received the Holy Ghost.”10

One unique weekly event was Bishop Cornell held Saturday night bible study at his

home. Here usually young ministers and those interested in learning more than the

average about the word of God would gather for instruction.

10

Pastor Ray Cornell. Pentecostal Outlook. Volume 12. No. 6. June 1943. Page 9.

Bishop Cornell, Dad, Glen McDaniel, Denny McDaniel with Sunday School Teacher Al Sacid

SISTER LOIS WADE

I remember Mammaw so fondly. She prayed

whenever she needed and wherever. Most

often she was in the kitchen. Back in the

1930‟s when she had come to the Lord she

had come from rough country people and

from a worldly life. She would be working in

the church kitchen and something happen.

She would just say, “S_ _T”.

One of the other cooks said, “SISTER

WADE!”

Mammaw, “What?”

Other cook, “You shouldn‟t speak like that

now that you are saved.”

Who knew? Mammaw didn‟t know that is was not something she should say but she

was learning. I doubt anyone reading this ever knew the story. I questioned the

wisdom of printing it because my Mammaw was held in such high esteem. However, I

want people to know that people come to God with lots of baggage. They are far from

perfect and our job is not to perfect them in our flesh or have them adhere to a long list

of rules and regulations but rather to let the Spirit of the Lord guide them in all truth

while we are there as help and encouragement to them in their walk with God.

Years later in an early pastorate I had someone come

tell me that a new convert was still smoking. I had

seen other ministers who would have made a major

issue of such. I remembered Mammaw‟s example. I

knew that the new convert would be just fine. We

prayed with her, encouraged her to continue her

Christian journey. I knew that like my Mammaw, she

was learning.

Mammaw loved to cook and people loved her

cooking! She would often be in the kitchen praying

and speaking in tongues. She told me that sometimes they had as good a service in

the kitchen of the church (which was downstairs) as they were having upstairs. Now,

that was saying something!

Pappaw, Brian, Mammaw, Bernie and Mom Thanksgiving 1969 some of Mammaw’s

cooking on the table.

The Cooks (L to R) Sister Snyder, Sister Staten, Mammaw, Sister Pazdernick, Sister Marge Anderson, Brother Herman Snyder, Sister Vollie Green and Sister

Kessel circa 1960

Mammaw had six children and was a home maker. Additionally, she

worked as caretaker for the Church. She and her family took care of

the church facilities. Whenever we had conventions, special services

or any event where food was involved, Mammaw was the Head Cook.

Lots of work, but Mammaw was up to the task, alongside her were

many wonderful saints of God helping to carry the load. Some of

those who helped in with the kitchen duties include Sister Margie and

Brother Harold Anderson, Mother Nemeth, Sister Lilian Pazdernick,

Brother Bernie Tucker, Bishop George Wade, Sister Smith, Sister

Bobbie Cooper, Sister Esther Hallberg (Drotleff), Sister Carol Green,

Sister Ruth Shopp who usually helped with coffee and many others

whose names I do not have.

Mammaw talked of them and their time together in the kitchen most fondly. The people

of AFCOG were more than other church members, more than friends, they were her

family. Many times people have said to me, “I remember the wonderful meals the ladies

at Bishop Cornell‟s would serve.”

Fellowship Hall at Apostolic Faith Church of God circa 1930. Pappaw is standing on the right against the wall

When Mammaw was in her 70‟s; at a Thanksgiving get together with the whole Wade

family. Mammaw started praying in her home kitchen and then speaking in tongues and

then shouting right into the dining room and through the living room and back into the

other door of the kitchen. It was a big loop and all the time she had her eyes closed and

had a spoon and mixing bowl in her hands (probably dough for her wonderful cat head

Mammaw at 100

biscuits). Those who were cold in Christ became nervous. The rest of us rejoiced right

along with her. Thank God for saints who are sold out to Jesus and don‟t see Church

as just something to do.

On July 14, Mammaw reached her 100th birthday. At her home that month I asked her,

“Mammaw, what do you learn in 100 years?”

“Oh honey, that is easy, you learn to be sweet and humble.”

So, a life well lived teaches a lesson that it may take a lifetime to master. BE SWEET

AND HUMBLE.

In October of 2010, Mammaw went home to be with Jesus. I was privileged to have a

part in her Home Going Service along with her pastor Bishop Billy McCool and Pastor

Mark McCool. I spoke of “Mammaw‟s Kitchen Ministry” and talked about her work as

compared to another servant who waited on tables, Apostle Stephen. In our ministry

many of the people we have had opportunity to reach were first impacted by someone

in our kitchen.

What powerful services they had in the old

church. What music we had! I still can

remember the musicians getting ready for

church service. We had wonderful Holy

Ghost filled musicians and they were very

talented. You might hear every

instrument from a 10 string guitar to the

spoons. Those were wonderful days

when the whole congregation came to

worship rather than to be entertained.

My Dad fondly recalled a time when a

preacher, Elder Plain (of American

Indian descent from Canada) came to

minister.

He said to Bishop Cornell, “Bishop you

have these people so primed to worship God that it doesn‟t even matter what I say.

They will simply worship”.

Bishop Cornell said, “You really think so?”

Elder Plain, “Yes. I could say „cabbage and onions‟ and they would worship.”

Bishop Cornell, “Give it a try”.

Children’s Sunday School (L to R) Adults, Bishop and Sister Cornell. Back Row (L to R) Sister Margie Anderson, Mammaw,

Elder France Thompson, Elder Milton Green, Elder George Wade

The next thing, Elder Plain grabbed the microphone and started yelling, “CABBAGE

AND ONIONS, CABBAGE AND ONIONS over and over again. You know what? The

people just started shouting and praising the Lord!

Fellowship in those years was readily

available and these are some of those in

the AFCOG fellowship circle: Brother White

(Akron), Brother Maley (Canton), Bishop

King (Chagrin Falls), Pastor Shriver later

Kearney (Elyria), Brother William Pogue,

Elder John Steila (Slavic Village), Bishop C.

B. Gillespie (Fairmont/Morgantown, WV),

Bishop Lee (Newark), Pastor Simmons

(Terra Haute, IN), Sister Betty Quakenbush

(Martinsville, IN), Brother Leslie

(Wadsworth) and more.

Besides church and fellowship meetings the

next thing on the list for most church folks is fellowship at a good restaurant. For

AFCOG, one of the favorites was a Chinese restaurant on the east side of Cleveland.

Pappaw‟s favorite dish was Subgum. My father usually ordered Green Pepper Steak.

Dad took Mom there on a date and encouraged her not to order American food. Mom

ordered a New York Strip. It was not well prepared, so she helped Dad with his

delicious Green Pepper Steak.

Around 1956, Bishop Cornell and then Elder Sanford Wade built a

beautiful waterfall behind the baptistery at the church. It was made

from stones from all over the country. Bishop Cornell gathered

these on ministry trips and brought them home. I remember one

night a Navy man came to service and received the Holy Ghost. He

wanted to be baptized and when he got ready to get in the

baptistery, he realized he had left his wallet in his pocket. Bishop

Cornell said, “That is all right I want to get all of you baptized!”

Pappaw was a hard worker. As a young man he worked at

Standard Knitting in Knoxville, Tennessee. That is where he met

Mammaw. When he first arrived in Cleveland Ohio he worked for the same company.

During the Great Depression he worked for the WPA (Works Progress Administration)

working on repairing roads.

Later, when he returned from Tennessee he went to work for the Waldock Meat

Company headquartered in Sandusky Ohio. Pappaw would get up very early in the

My Pappaw, Bishop George A. Wade cutting Bishop Ray Cornell’s hair.

morning to make the more than two hour drive to work in Sandusky. Dad recalls

Pappaw up early in the morning praying in the bathroom before he went to work.

Pappaw was a barber. I don‟t think that he went to formal barber school, but he cut hair

for many of the men in the church. Pappaw was always busy.

He would often retort, “There is no rest for the wicked and the righteous don‟t need it!”

At some point during this time my grandfather purchased a reel to reel tape recorder

and recorded some of the old church services. Most of these have been lost through

time but as a young man I remember listening to the events of those old meetings and

am very thankful that Pap paw spent the time and effort to record these events. My

grandparents had six children and all of them were at one time involved at AFCOG.

Two of them would become ministers.

On April 8th, 1962, my father Sanford L. Wade, and my

Mother the former Georgia Ann Gillespie, were married at

Apostolic Faith Church of God. Bishop Ray O. Cornell

officiated. There were hundreds in attendance for the

wedding. This wedding date marked the 26th Anniversary

of the new building (It was the 30th Year for the Church).

On that same date April 8th in1936 the congregation had

first moved into this building and held the first service. For

Mom and Dad‟s it was the beginning of a 50 year journey

together. They would go on to raise five children, see their

8 grandchildren, and the first three great grandchildren,

establish churches in several places, release two natural

sons into the ministry, mentor and train a significant number

of others many of whom would become musicians, recording

artists, song writers, writers, leaders and ministers in various ministries and assemblies

around the world.

Silly things happened at AFCOG also. One time a preacher came and preached

about “Moreover the Dog”.

He said, “Moreover, is the only dog named in the bible.”

Of course this man was simply illiterate. We used to get great laughs out of that

misnomer. He had taken the text about the story of Lazarus where it says, “Moreover

the dogs came and licked the sores of Lazarus.” Today, we wouldn‟t let a preacher that

ignorant in our pulpits. But, guess what? The altars filled up that night with people

crying out to God and some got the Holy Ghost! I need to remember that lessen.

Bishop Sanford Lee Wade and Georgia Ann Gillespie on their wedding day,

April 8th

, 1962

Sometimes I forget the power is NOT in me but in the Word of God! God‟s Word is

capable no matter how ignorant the preacher!

My maternal Aunt, Fern Kessel or Sister Kessel as she was called at church, was

actively involved with children. Aunt Fern

had been unable to have natural children

due to some natural problem that caused

her to miscarry several times. But her

love for children was undeniable and she

spent her life working with children and

for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Only

heaven had record of the many lives that

she touched. I was blessed to be at her

Home Going and had the privilege of

giving a few remarks.

At AFCOG, she did many things but my

fondest memory of her is her leading the children‟s band or “The Little Band “as they

called it. I don‟t know who originally started it; the Little Band had been part of AFCOG

for a long time. My Dad told me he played in The Little Band as a child so it must have

gone back to near the beginning of the church. Sister Kessel also worked with children

in other capacities such as plays, Sunday School and more.

At the time of my childhood Sister Fern Kessel was the leader of The Little Band. The

Little Band was made up of small children probably 3-7 year olds. Each would come

with their child size tambourine, or pair of sticks, triangle, drum, or some similar simple

instrument and she would lead us as we sang children‟s songs and played instruments.

Of course, I have taken literary license with the word „played‟! Sister Fern Kessel had

the patience of Job!

This early experience with „music‟ (we children thought it

was music) gave me a lifelong love for music and for the

people of God. In the years to come I would be blessed

lead my own children‟s choir, and adult choirs, sing in a

quartet, duet and solo. I tried a hand at the bass guitar, the

piano and organ but never really accomplished much with

them. But the tambourine which I began beating in Aunt

Fern‟s children‟s band, that is an instrument with which I

have learned to keep rhythm.

My parents certainly tried to help me with playing a musical

instrument. They bought me a guitar when I was a young

Christmas Pageant at AFCOG. Brian and I were two of the three Kings. Dad wrote several plays for AFCOG

AFCOG young people’s group

child to encourage me to be a musician. Dad reminds me that I would lay the guitar on

the floor, then stand on it and sing. Well something was working anyway! My singing is

not going to earn me any awards but it certainly is better than my musical talent.

AFCOG was a praying church. Bishop Cornell put great faith in prayer. When the

pastor of one of the daughter works was discovered in sexual sin, and the people didn‟t

know how to bring it to light. Bishop Cornell advised them to pray. When after a couple

of weeks nothing had changed, Bishop Cornell advised them to be patient and pray. In

the end, the Adulterous pastor stood up one service and resigned. No fight, no

confusion – Prayer had won the day.

Bishop Cornell had a wealth of experience.

He had been around people enough to

know their ways. In those days they

would often go to people homes that had

called for prayer and pray for them.

Some of us still go to people‟s homes for

prayer. Bishop Cornell always instructed

the ministers, “Never go to a home

alone”. One evening the phone rang at

Pappaw and Mammaw‟s house. It was

Bishop Cornell. He wanted Pappaw to

accompany him to go pray for a lady who

had called for prayer. When they arrived

at the ladies home, she was nude. She began to cuss and swore at Bishop Cornell,

because she had expected him to come alone.

Pappaw would often talk about the prayer services in those early days. He said the

people would be at the altar 5 or more rows deep, crying out to God! Powerful prayer

meetings begat power churches. There were praying ladies who heard from God.

Sometimes they would stand in the service and ask Bishop Cornell if they could speak.

This would usually start like, “Bishop Cornell I was praying the other day and the Lord

showed me…”

If you were sinning the Lord just show it to one of these praying ladies in the church.

They could start speaking and people would get up and run to the altar. These ladies

prayed and God spoke to them. Every body of believers needs intercessors like those.

One day, Pappaw observed something quite strange. He saw a man from the church

standing at the corner of West 25th and Clark. The man was someone Pappaw knew

well. He realized that this man was smoking. This was a serious concern but Pappaw

was uncertain what to do, so he prayed about it. Some time passed and one night in

Bishop Cornell, Bishop King, Pastor ? and Elder Milton Green

church service one of the praying sisters stood and asked Brother Cornell for

permission to speak.

She said, “The Lord showed me Brother (name withheld) standing at the corner of West

25th and Clark and he was smoking.” At this moment this brother stood and yelled,

“That is a lie”.

Pappaw, who was the assistant pastor then stood and told how he had not heard from

the Lord on this matter but had actually seen the event. He told how he had been

praying for the Lord to help with the situation. At this the brother went to the altar. God

had revealed the secret things in open.

Sister Frieda Thompson told me that the church in those days was very evangelistic.

She had come to Cleveland from Lancaster Ohio where the late Elder S. R. Hanby had

pastored for so many years before turning the church there into the capable hands of

Elder R. G. Cook. In those days the Cleveland church was active in street meetings.

They would just go to an area and have church on the street. People who may never

have come to the church were impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this manner.

Dad sat on the Elder Board for a number of years. Bishop Cornell had the foresight to

know that you could not run a church on your own. This is a lesson that many either

forgot, ignore or just never learn. The Elder Board was approved men, full of the Holy

Ghost who worked closely with Bishop Cornell. One day when the Elder Board was

meeting they discussed a preacher who had demanded a guarantee of a certain sum

before he would come hold revival. Dad, who was the youngest of the Elders,

recommended they tell him not to come, and they did. The Church was well able to

meet the sum and the sum was much less than what they would have normally paid, but

that wasn‟t the point. They wanted people who were committed to Jesus, not worried

about money.

In 1971, God called our beloved Bishop Ray Oscar Cornell home. I will never forget the

funeral service. The cars following the hearse stretched for as far as the eye could see.

Bishop Cornell had left no one in charge of the church in spite of a number of attempts

by his family and others. It had been no secret that Bishop Cornell was getting up in

years and someone needed to lead the church. Bishop Cornell had been in bad health

for some time and suffered through some strokes. At one time, my grandfather came

back from his retirement in Tennessee in a failed effort by the Cornell children to get

Bishop Cornell to turn over the Church to someone younger and in better health.

Unfortunately, that just didn‟t happen.

While he was living, Bishop Cornell had made some

decisions about the church leadership that did not go

well and after his passing there was much

disagreement on the Elder Board, different ones

were certain that they should be the pastor. When

the dust had settled Bishop Milton Green, who had

been the Assistant Pastor, became Pastor.

Unfortunately for AFCOG this prompted an exodus

by some of the leadership and members; leaving

the church with a smaller congregation in an inner

city area that was itself being decimated because of

„White Flight‟.11

With the Church building having been taken by the

State for the new I-90 project, the congregations

relocated to a much smaller, but very nice facility

on Maple Avenue off West 25th Street. The Church

desperately needed an influx of Fresh Oil and New Wine but it

never came. Bishop Milton Green would pastor AFCOG until he passed away a few

years later. Then, Bishop David Cornell, the son of the late Bishop Ray O. Cornell

would pastor the AFCOG. These were difficult years for the Church. Gone were the

heydays of the 1940‟s and 50‟s when people were streaming into the West Side of

Cleveland to work in booming businesses. The environment in the 1970‟s and 80‟s was

the exact opposite. Companies were moving out of the city or closing. The once

vibrant steel industry was dying and the people who worked in many those places were

moving out of the city. Bishop David Cornell pastored until they was finally closed the

doors of AFCOG in Cleveland forever.

Thankfully, the life work of Bishop Cornell has continued in the lives of his Spiritual

sons. Bishop Cornell was himself a spiritual son of the late Bishop G. B. Rowe and he

was blessed to have a number of spiritual sons among them Bishop George A. Wade,

Bishop Sanford L. Wade, Bishop Milton Green, Bishop David Cornell, Pastor France

Thompson, Pastor Frieda Thompson, Pastor John Pogue, Pastor David Pogue, Bishop

William Pogue. I know there are dozens more that came from these ministers but I

don‟t have all their names.

Today, Apostolic Faith Church of God is gone. The building and property on West 25th

Street was taken by the State of Ohio to build I-90. Where the Church building was is

now community baseball fields, but the truths that we learned there and the impact on

our lives will live forever.

11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight

Pastor James Shriver, Bishop Ray Cornell, Bishop Carl Angle and Bishop George A. Wade

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Bernie Wade has dedicated his entire life to working in ministry.

As a child he helped his parents pioneer a number of church

plants. As a young man he served as an evangelist, assistant

pastor, pastor and more. Today, he fills his busy schedule writing,

teaching, preaching and traveling around the world ministering the

Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He is a focused on the restoration or reformation of the Church to

the tenets that were taught by the New Testament Church and the

original Apostles of Jesus Christ. Toward this end most of his

writing focuses on those essential biblical doctrines. He is committed to teaching and

focusing other church leaders to return to our Biblical foundation.

He serves as President to the global ministry of International Circle of Faith (ICOF).

ICOF is a global network of ministers, churches, ministries and more. ICOF‟s global

network has more than 40,000 ministers and some 20 million adherents, with

representation in nearly every country in the world. For more information visit:

http://www.icof.net International Circle of Faith Colleges Seminaries and Universities

(ICOF CSU) is a global network of Christian schools of higher learning and represents

ICOF‟s leaders collective commitment to quality Christian education.

Dr. Bernie Wade sees the current spiritual climate as another great

wave of the Holy Spirit similar to the wave of the Spirit that swept

the world after the Wales and Azusa Street revivals a century ago.

With this wave of the Holy Spirit in mind, Dr. Wade is instructing

leaders to position themselves and their followers to get ready for

The Next Wave. In this light a magazine was launched

appropriately called, “The Next Wave”. To learn more about The

Next Wave Magazine visit:

http://www.icof.net/index.php/thenextwave Welcome to The Next

Wave!

Bishop Daniel Joseph, Bishop Joseph Rankin and Bishop Wade with many

other ministers at an ICOF Leadership Summit in

Ghana West Africa.