A Faithful Evangelist: D.R. Moreland
In the 1920s, the Moreland Evangelistic Party, comprised of David Ray Moreland; his wife, Mary; and their daughters Lourenna and Ollena, became one of the best know evangelistic families in the Church of God.
Their handbills and newspaper ads varied from town to town:
“Revival in progress at Church of God. Salvation for Your Soul. Healing for Your Body. Bible Preaching—Gospel Singing.”
“The Musical Morelands are coming to the Church of God situated in Aracoma, Logan, W. Va., April 21st, 1928, and remaining two weeks or longer. Come! Hear them Preach, Sing and Play.”
Born in 1881, D.R. Moreland, as he was best known, was saved at the age of 16 in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church. He began preaching the next year, and was sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost in 1911. His evangelistic ministry was well established by the time he united with the Church of God in 1919.
The Moreland Evangelistic Party: (standing) David Ray, Mary; (seated) Lourenna, Ollena
With little financial support other than the offerings he received, Brother Moreland had to stay busy preaching. On one occasion he conducted services every night for 191 straight days. When his daughters were out of school, the family traveled as the Moreland Evangelistic Party, with all four members of the family preaching, singing and playing musical instruments.
A popular preacher, D.R. was often invited back to churches for revivals. One of his best known was at the North Cleveland Church of God while S.W. Latimer was serving as pastor. Results of the four-week meeting included 100 saved, 79 sanctified and baptized with the Holy Ghost, and 80 new members. Many who were saved under his ministry were also called to preach the gospel. These included future State Overseer J.H. Hughes and future General Overseer Houston R. Morehead.
D.R. served for a brief time as state overseer of Missouri and New York, and occasionally he would serve as pastor of a congregation. Frequently he would preach in a town long enough to establish a congregation and allow the state overseer time to appoint a permanent pastor. He was often on the General Assembly program as a representative of his state, song leader, Lighted Pathway promoter or preacher.
The work of God stirred opposition, however, and D.R. Moreland experienced that opposition. Often threatened, he was arrested on at least one occasion because revival services lasted too long into the night. Once in Milton, West Virginia, an angry man insisted he would hang Brother Moreland if he did not take back his sermon. Brother Moreland refused, but did go with the man to a wooded area to talk. After awhile, D.R. suggested that if there was going to be a hanging they should get on with it. Frustrated, the man called Brother Moreland a fool, and then burst into tears and repented. The next night the once angry man was singing in the church choir.
When D.R. Moreland went to be with the Lord in 1976, he left behind a legacy as a faithful evangelist whatever the circumstances and wherever the work of the Lord took him.
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This article was written by Church of God Historian David G. Roebuck, Ph.D., who 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 October 2006 Church of God Evangel.
