The Church of God will celebrate 125 years of Pentecostal witness on August 19, 2011. This is the second in a series of articles relating our commitment to preserve and pass on our heritage to our children and grandchildren.
The Church of God will celebrate 125 years of Pentecostal witness on August 19, 2011. This is the first in a series of articles relating our commitment to preserve and pass on our heritage to our children and grandchildren.
Struggle walked with Alabama-born James Benton Ellis along every step of his Christian journey. But struggle always gave way to victory.
In May 1910 R. G. Spurling held several services and prayer meetings in the community of Jones, Georgia. Both the rural community and the local Church of God were known by the name of the Jones family that resided there. In his report to the readers of The Evening Light and Church of God Evangel, Spurling noted that exhortations, speaking in tongues, interpretations and praise accompanied the meetings.
God answered W.F. Bryant’s prayer for a sweet spirit and “signs following” with a 2:00 a.m. wakeup call.
The year 1922 was a difficult one for Milo Parks Cross and his wife, Lettie. It was not that the Church of God in Crane Eater, Georgia, had been unkind or uncaring to the young ministerial couple. The people at Crane Eater treated the Crosses well and voted for them to return for another year as pastors.
By David G. Roebuck
Milo Cross’s pastoral experience had begun in late 1916 when he served as a temporary pastor of the Marietta Street Church of God in Atlanta. The following years brought pastoral appointments to churches in Valdosta, Dahlonega, Sonoraville and Crane Eater, Georgia. For a time he was pastor of the Sonoraville and Crane Eater churches simultaneously—as always with the help of Lettie, who was also a licensed minister.
The financial difficulties for this small family grew out of a new policy adopted by the Church of God General Assembly in 1920. In an effort to make more money available for general church ministries, the Assembly agreed that all local churches would send their total tithes to the headquarters in Cleveland. The plan was then to disburse money to pastors according to their needs, responsibilities and efficiency. However, what appeared to be a sound idea to Assembly delegates, who generously desired to advance the cause of the Church of God, soon proved to be disastrous to many pastors and their families.
Like many pastors accustomed to keeping most of the tithes for their own livelihood, the Crosses received back far less than the amount their church sent to the general treasury. This resulted in a meager existence, and the Crosses were all but broke when they attended the 1922 General Assembly.
The young family could have left the 1922 Assembly with an appointment to one of the best churches in the Church of God. After much prayer, however, they decided to serve as pastors of a small church in Detroit, Michigan. Unfortunately, they lacked the train fare for the long trip to Detroit.
Without complaining or speaking of their circumstances to anyone, Milo and Lettie Cross prayed until they believed the Lord would provide for the journey. They then purchased tickets to travel the one hundred or so miles their money would take them.
The Crosses had seen the hand of the Lord many times in their young ministry. It was not unusual for pioneer Church of God ministers to sacrifice even the basic necessities of life, and the Crosses were accustomed to God’s providing for their needs. According to Milo Cross’s brief autobiographic sketch, In the Good (?) Ole Days, one such incident followed the birth of their daughter, Cecil. With less than a dollar in his pocket, Milo went to town to buy some things that Lettie insisted they absolutely must have. Along the way, a church member met him with a gift of $5. The member told of a sleepless night on account of failure to obey the Lord and give $5 to the Crosses the day before. With a thankful heart, Milo returned home with the necessities Lettie had requested.
Despite such experiences, it was no small matter to board a train with two young children and tickets for only a fraction of the way. Once aboard the train, Milo and Lettie were busy making a place for Cecil and Louis to sleep when their eyes met those of the Georgia overseer, S.W. Latimer.
Brother Latimer, who had boarded the same northbound train at an earlier stop, excitedly told the Crosses about his recent ministry among the churches in southern Georgia. He reported that the Lord had blessed him with exceptionally good offerings. Complicating the situation, however, the overseer had also just sold a team of horses. He found himself a little anxious about the amount of cash he would have to carry the three or four miles from the train station to his home. He suggested that the Crosses might take at least a hundred dollars to relieve him of some of his anxiety.
As tears welled up in the eyes of Milo and Lettie Cross, Overseer Latimer hastily apologized in case he had offended them. He had not meant to hurt their feelings with his proposal. But the Crosses quickly explained they were not crying because they were offended. Rather, they were encouraged that their God was alive and had provided for their specific need just as they had trusted He would.
Milo, Lettie, Cecil and Louis Cross arrived in Detroit on a cold, cloudy December morning in 1922. It had been a long two-day journey and a difficult year. To natural eyes, their new circumstances did not look any brighter. There was no one to meet them at the train station, and these Southerners had never before seen so much snow on the ground. But their hearts were warm with faith and confidence in what God would do.
Committed to serving God during even the difficult times, the Crosses spent the next ten years in Michigan. After the first two years, Milo was appointed state overseer, while continuing to pastor. Over the course of his ministry he served a total of twenty-five years as a state overseer, including a second tenure in Michigan from 1948-1952. Additionally he served as the first full-time director of Church of God World Missions and on numerous boards and committees. Along the way, it was his experience that God always gave provision for the journey.
Church of God Historian David G. Roebuck, Ph.D., is director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Lee University. This “Church of God Chronicles” was first published in the March 1999 Church of God Evangel.
