Earl Paulk - Church & Ministry

Church & Ministry

In 1960, Paulk founded the Gospel Harvesters Evangelistic Association with his wife, his brother Don (also a former Church of God pastor), and his sister-in-law Clariece. During its early years, the church held services at St. John's Lutheran Church in the Little Five Points section of Atlanta. It later moved to its own building in nearby Inman Park.

From the first day, Paulk was committed to opening the doors of his church to all people, regardless of racial or economic background. Not surprisingly given his opposition to segregation, he was one of the first white pastors to open the doors of his church to blacks. This stance wasn't popular even with some members of his own church; when the first blacks set foot in the church in the early 1960s, several whites walked out in protest. In response, one of the whites who remained, Ida Williams, gave a 15-minute sermon in which she said, "It is not the will of God that we should have prejudice." To this day, the church has a fairly large black membership for a church led by a white pastor.

Paulk remained active in the civil rights movement during this time. For instance, at a meeting of Concerned Clergy, he was one of the pastors who blessed the first civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. Later, he and his brother picketed a produce market which sold food to blacks at inflated prices. The resulting public outcry caused the store's closure.

In 1972, the church moved to the southern part of DeKalb County and became known as Chapel Hill Harvester Church. While there, the church experienced massive growth, enlarging the building several times, having services in a tent, then moving its services into a building known as the "K-Center." In 1989, the church broke ground on a large, Gothic-like building off Interstate 285 in Decatur. Dedicated in 1991, this building is known as the "Cathedral of the Holy Spirit," and eventually the church changed its name to "the Cathedral at Chapel Hill."

The church was famed for combining visual arts (particularly with the dance team) with a liturgical style. Under his sister Clariece, who headed the church's arts ministry for many years, it became known for its music ministry as well. Paulk, who had previous television and radio ministry experience, later expanded his media ministry and for many years his show aired on TBN. He also was a semi-regular guest on TBN's "Praise the Lord."

In 1982, Paulk was ordained as a bishop in the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. His public housing ministry was named one of a "thousand points of light" by President George H. W. Bush He ultimately gave up the senior pastor's title to his brother Don, but was still acknowledged as the real power.

In later years, he became one of the few mainstream Pentecostal/charismatic leaders to welcome openly gay and lesbian members.

Paulk's church population numbers exploded during the 1990s; at its height it had 12,000 members. Recent scandals (see below) have significantly diminished its numbers; as of 2007 it had 1,500 members.

In August 2009, with the church property facing foreclosure, the campus was sold to another local growing church; who then allowed Chapel Hill to use their old sanctuary; which continues to date as of August 2010.